East Central Reporter

Former state university employee Cheryl Siddens, who retired in May 2018, saved $61,230 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Siddens would collect as much as $845,361, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Siddens received $17,768 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Siddens will have already received $74,335 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.