Former state university employee Kates paid in $140K to pension fund, could collect $2.97M in retirement

Former state university employee Donald Kates, who retired in January 2016, saved $140,390 toward a pension over 23 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Kates would collect as much as $2.97 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Kates received $62,412 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Kates will have already received $192,909 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.