Former state university employee Gibson paid in $17K to pension fund, could collect $489K in retirement

Former state university employee Brenda Gibson, who retired in February 2017, saved $16,683 toward a pension over 22 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gibson would collect as much as $489,488, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Gibson received $10,288 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Gibson will have already received $20,885 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.