Metro East Sun

Former state university employee Judith Zimmerman, who retired in January 2016, saved $35,222 toward a pension over 22 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Zimmerman would collect as much as $770,242, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Zimmerman received $16,189 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Zimmerman will have already received $50,039 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.