Former state university employee Ward paid in $123K to pension fund, could collect $2.14M in retirement

Former state university employee Larry Ward, who retired in January 2017, saved $122,673 toward a pension over 17 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.

Over 30 years of retirement, Ward would collect as much as $2.14 million, according to a projection by Local Government Information Services (LGIS), which publishes DuPage Policy Journal.

The projection assumes Ward received $44,880 in the first year of retirement, then 3 percent annual increases thereafter, compounded.

After 3 years of retirement, Ward will have already received $138,719 in retirement benefits, or more than the sum total of the retiree's contributions to the state pension fund.