Chicago City Wire

Former state university employee George Hayden, who retired in February 2019, saved $57,836 toward a pension over 8 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Hayden would collect as much as $643,409, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Chicago City Wire.

The projection assumes Hayden received $13,524 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 5 years of retirement, Hayden will have already received $71,801 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.