Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee John McDonnell, who retired in August 2018, saved $93,208 toward a pension over 18 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, McDonnell would collect as much as $2.57 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes McDonnell received $54,018 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, McDonnell will have already received $109,657 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.