Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Stephen Ayers, who retired in December 2016, saved $59,369 toward a pension over 14 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Ayers would collect as much as $946,029, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Ayers received $19,884 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Ayers will have already received $61,460 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.