Quantcast

Sangamon Sun

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Former state university employee Gardiner paid in $34K to pension fund, could collect $499K in retirement

Shutterstock 381111379

Former state university employee Thomas Gardiner, who retired in July 2016, saved $33,789 toward a pension over 14 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Gardiner would collect as much as $499,416, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes Sangamon Sun.

The projection assumes Gardiner received $10,497 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 4 years of retirement, Gardiner will have already received $43,915 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.

MORE NEWS