Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Leigh Whitson, who retired in January 2016, saved $43,989 toward a pension over 15 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Whitson would collect as much as $734,634, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Whitson received $15,441 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Whitson will have already received $47,726 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.