Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Claude West, who retired in January 2016, saved $40,749 toward a pension over 15 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, West would collect as much as $645,242, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes West received $13,562 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, West will have already received $41,919 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.