Former state university employee O'Neil paid in $66K to pension fund, could collect $1.25M in retirement

Former state university employee Cynthia O'Neil, who retired in December 2016, saved $65,781 toward a pension over 17 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, O'Neil would collect as much as $1.25 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes O'Neil received $26,240 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, O'Neil will have already received $81,105 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.