Former state university employee Ficht paid in $150K to pension fund, could collect $4.34M in retirement

Former state university employee David Ficht, who retired in September 2018, saved $150,055 toward a pension over 34 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Ficht would collect as much as $4.34 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Ficht received $91,259 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Ficht will have already received $185,256 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.