Metro East Sun

Former state university employee Jeanette Lavender, who retired in April 2018, saved $17,172 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Lavender would collect as much as $276,888, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Metro East Sun.

The projection assumes Lavender received $5,820 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Lavender will have already received $17,990 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.