Metro East Sun

Former state university employee Kenneth Gattung, who retired in January 2016, saved $42,924 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gattung would collect as much as $953,673, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Gattung received $20,045 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Gattung will have already received $61,956 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.