Carbondale Reporter

Former state university employee Patti Thurmond, who retired in January 2016, saved $13,548 toward a pension over 8 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Thurmond would collect as much as $264,089, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Carbondale Reporter.

The projection assumes Thurmond received $5,550 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Thurmond will have already received $17,156 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.