Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Michael Brown, who retired in January 2016, saved $4,861 toward a pension over 7 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Brown would collect as much as $61,046, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Brown received $1,283 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Brown will have already received $5,367 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.