Transplant recipient admits he's behind the saving curve

Why save money for retirement when you're convinced you'll be dead by 45?

That became Randy Small's financial philosophy after he had a heart attack at 29 and double-bypass surgery two years later. As he approached 40, doctors implanted a stent to keep an artery open, an internal pacemaker/defibrillator to keep his heart beating correctly and a mechanical device to take over for the left ventricle, which was only pumping 11 percent of the blood his body needed.

They also put him on a waiting list for a heart transplant. "Minute by minute, hour by hour, I was waiting to die. Or, I was waiting for someone else to die," Small said. "I looked at my life, and I was content. I want more, but if this is all I get, it was a nice ride."

On May 24, 2004, he got a call from physicians at the University of Washington Medical Center. "They said 'We have a heart,' and I said, 'It's go time,' " he recalled.

What he has

Small, now 45, has the heart of a woman who died of a brain tumor when she was 22.

"I have the heart of a hero, and it's not the one I was born with," Small said. "I got my ordinary life back because someone chose to do something extraordinary by being an organ donor."

Doctors estimate Small has 30 years of life ahead of him because he is otherwise healthy and fit.

Before the heart transplant, Small was a salesman with Danka — a company that provides copiers, printers and other office imaging equipment.

He earned $140,000 the year before he became eligible for long-term-disability insurance.

That set him up for annual disability payments of $76,000. Small's cardiologist said that returning to his sales job would be too stressful, so he's preparing for a new career.

What he wants

Small will soon start classes at Bellevue Community College to become a sonograph technician. He wants to work in a cardiologist's office.

"I've learned so much from my experience. I want to be the person who's there to help someone the first time they come into the office with the feeling that something funny's going on with their heart," he said.

After he completes the BCC program and starts a job, Small's disability payments will end. He expects his starting salary will be $85,000 in his new career field.

He also volunteers with the Living Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization of LifeCenter Northwest that teaches about organ and tissue donation. He would like to become a national speaker on the subject.

"In this country, there are 98,000 people waiting for organ transplants and 1,500 in Washington," Small said. "Of those, every single day 18 people don't make it. That's not acceptable for me. I want to make a difference."

While he's eager to train for his next profession and has reason to be encouraged about his health, Small's financial future is on life support.

What he needs

"I'm truly concerned for his long-term financial well-being. He's so far behind the curve," said John Klevens, a certified financial planner with Klevens Capital Management in Bellevue. "But, given that he has somebody else's heart in his chest, I think he's doing pretty well."

Small's biggest asset is a three-bedroom home in the Bothell/Mill Creek area. It's worth about $350,000 and he owes $182,000 on the property. He never took part in his company's 401(k), but has $6,000 in a traditional IRA.

Klevens said "that's nothing" for someone in their mid-40s. Even if Small gets a job after college that pays $85,000 and contributes the maximum amount to a 401(k), his retirement savings will run out by age 75.

"He's playing catch-up," Klevens said. "He needs to take his income to the highest level possible after college, and that will hopefully include speaking engagements where he'll earn an additional $15,000 each year."

When it comes to building a retirement fund, Klevens recommended moving $6,000 from the IRA, a conservative money-market account, to a more-aggressive no-load Vanguard mutual fund with the potential for higher returns. Any income Small earns from speaking engagements should go into his retirement portfolio.

"He has huge potential with public speaking. He has the experience, the passion and the personality to make up for lost ground," Klevens said. "It's his retirement trump card."

More than anything, Klevens said, Small needs to cut back on expenses. His monthly income is $6,378 and he's spending almost all of that. At the end of a typical month, he had a small surplus of $56 and some change.

What he thinks

Small didn't know his cash flow was only two digits on the plus side at the end of the month.

"That's not good," he said. "At least now I know where I'm at financially. Yes, I'm far behind when it comes to retirement savings, but I'll get there."

He has a number of fixed expenses — including private health-care insurance and medicines he'll be on the rest of his life to prevent his body from rejecting his new heart — but he's confident he can reduce spending by $500 a month.

He plans on refinancing his house to reduce mortgage payments and pay for college expenses. He's also looking for grants and scholarships.

"I'm grateful that I even have a financial future to worry about," said Small. "Every single day is a bonus. That's an attitude you acquire when you come so close to losing it all."