Former state university employee Gillespie paid in $12K to pension fund, could collect $234K in retirement

Former state university employee Marie Gillespie, who retired in July 2018, saved $11,884 toward a pension over 2 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gillespie would collect as much as $234,225, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Gillespie received $4,923 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Gillespie will have already received $15,217 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.