East Central Reporter

Former state university employee Paul Cottingham, who retired in April 2018, saved $10,000 toward a pension over 11 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cottingham would collect as much as $146,151, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes East Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Cottingham received $3,072 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Cottingham will have already received $12,852 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.