Former state university employee Kouba paid in $55K to pension fund, could collect $983K in retirement

Former state university employee Denise Kouba, who retired in September 2017, saved $55,090 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Kouba would collect as much as $982,584, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Kouba received $20,653 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Kouba will have already received $63,837 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.