Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Elliott Garber, who retired in May 2018, saved $25,579 toward a pension over 8 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Garber would collect as much as $563,597, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Garber received $11,846 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Garber will have already received $36,614 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.