Prairie State Wire

Former state university employee Amy Hermes, who retired in January 2018, saved $27,581 toward a pension over 8 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Hermes would collect as much as $730,627, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Prairie State Wire.

The projection assumes Hermes received $15,357 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Hermes will have already received $31,175 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.