East Central Reporter

Former state university employee Tammy Smith, who retired in March 2016, saved $57,376 toward a pension over 23 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Smith would collect as much as $571,984, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Smith received $12,022 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 5 years of retirement, Smith will have already received $63,827 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.