West Central Reporter

Former state university employee Wilbert Cole, who retired in January 2019, saved $55,853 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Cole would collect as much as $791,845, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes West Central Reporter.

The projection assumes Cole received $16,644 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Cole will have already received $69,631 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.