McLean County Times

Former state university employee Sun Smith, who retired in January 2016, saved $53,250 toward a pension over 16 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Smith would collect as much as $851,322, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes McLean County Times.

The projection assumes Smith received $17,894 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Smith will have already received $55,309 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.