Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee Marilyn McDole, who retired in January 2016, saved $36,326 toward a pension over 7 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, McDole would collect as much as $498,982, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes McDole received $10,488 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, McDole will have already received $43,879 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.