Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Joan O'Connell, who retired in July 2016, saved $38,257 toward a pension over 10 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, O'Connell would collect as much as $590,709, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes O'Connell received $12,416 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, O'Connell will have already received $38,376 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.