Metro East Sun

Former state university employee Rene Smith, who retired in January 2018, saved $41,324 toward a pension over 19 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Smith would collect as much as $890,600, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Smith received $18,719 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Smith will have already received $57,859 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.