Former state university employee William Byrne, who retired in December 2017, saved $21,254 toward a pension over 14 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Byrne would collect as much as $379,771, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Byrne received $7,982 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Byrne will have already received $24,671 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.