Metro East Sun

Former state university employee Paula Myers, who retired in July 2016, saved $40,017 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Myers would collect as much as $681,711, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Myers received $14,329 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Myers will have already received $44,290 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.