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Carbondale Reporter

Friday, October 3, 2025

Former state university employee Thomas paid in $104K to pension fund, could collect $2.15M in retirement

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Former state university employee Russell Thomas, who retired in December 2017, saved $103,660 toward a pension over 24 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Thomas would collect as much as $2.15 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Carbondale Reporter.

The projection assumes Thomas received $45,140 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Thomas will have already received $139,523 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.

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