Former state university employee Lawson paid in $7K to pension fund, could collect $250K in retirement

Former state university employee Joyce Lawson, who retired in March 2017, saved $7,206 toward a pension over 11 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Lawson would collect as much as $249,862, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Lawson received $5,251 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Lawson will have already received $10,660 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.