Metro East Sun

Former state university employee Rhonda Harper, who retired in January 2016, saved $43,385 toward a pension over 24 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Harper would collect as much as $894,259, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Harper received $18,796 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Harper will have already received $58,097 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.