Carbondale Reporter

Former state university employee Steven Kappel, who retired in November 2016, saved $40,547 toward a pension over 14 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Kappel would collect as much as $632,979, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Carbondale Reporter.

The projection assumes Kappel received $13,304 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Kappel will have already received $41,121 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.