Former state university employee MacChia paid in $26K to pension fund, could collect $404K in retirement

Former state university employee Debra MacChia, who retired in January 2016, saved $25,990 toward a pension over 12 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, MacChia would collect as much as $404,417, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes MacChia received $8,500 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, MacChia will have already received $26,273 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.