Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Ava Thomas, who retired in August 2018, saved $31,552 toward a pension over 8 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Thomas would collect as much as $472,669, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Thomas received $9,935 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Thomas will have already received $41,564 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.