East Central Reporter

Former state university employee Stephen Garren, who retired in January 2018, saved $83,274 toward a pension over 17 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Garren would collect as much as $1.47 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Garren received $30,914 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Garren will have already received $95,551 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.