Former state university employee Szeszol paid in $23K to pension fund, could collect $610K in retirement

Former state university employee Kathleen Szeszol, who retired in June 2016, saved $23,086 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Szeszol would collect as much as $610,440, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Szeszol received $12,831 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 2 years of retirement, Szeszol will have already received $26,047 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.