Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Carole Danielson, who retired in August 2018, saved $20,758 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Danielson would collect as much as $340,830, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Danielson received $7,164 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Danielson will have already received $22,143 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.