Former state university employee Thommes paid in $61K to pension fund, could collect $1.23M in retirement

Former state university employee Judith Thommes, who retired in February 2018, saved $61,451 toward a pension over 21 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Thommes would collect as much as $1.23 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Thommes received $25,857 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Thommes will have already received $79,922 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.