Former state university employee Philip Strang, who retired in December 2016, saved $46,426 toward a pension over 12 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Strang would collect as much as $744,054, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Strang received $15,639 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Strang will have already received $48,338 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.