Former state university employee Kartje paid in $235K to pension fund, could collect $6.26M in retirement

Former state university employee Jean Kartje, who retired in March 2017, saved $235,357 toward a pension over 27 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Kartje would collect as much as $6.26 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Kartje received $131,572 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Kartje will have already received $267,091 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.