East Central Reporter

Former state university employee Cindy Nicholson, who retired in October 2017, saved $48,666 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Nicholson would collect as much as $796,024, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Nicholson received $16,731 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Nicholson will have already received $51,714 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.