Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Scott Leonardi Founder of Complete Solutions Discussing Guaranteed Income

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Scott Leonardi began serving families in 1995 as a licensed Life & Health insurance agent. In 1998, he founded Complete Solutions, a holistic planning firm dedicated to helping individuals and business owners protect their future. As a Certified Financial Fiduciary® and member of the National Association of Certified Financial Fiduciaries, Scott is committed to putting his clients’ best interests first.A passionate advocate for financial education, Scott co-authored *Don’t Go Broke in a Nursing Home* to help people avoid costly mistakes that threaten their life’s work. His mission is to align insurance coverage with each client’s unique needs and lifestyle.Outside of work, Scott enjoys time with his wife, five children, one granddaughter, and three Dobermans—and continues to campaign for that family boat.Learn More: https://www.completesolutions.insure/Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saundershttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/influential-entrepreneurs-with-mike-saunders/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-scott-leonardi-founder-of-complete-solutions-discussing-guaranteed-income

Welcome to influential entrepreneurs, bringing you interviews with elite business leaders and experts, sharing tips and strategies for elevating your business to the next level. Here's your host, Mike Saunders. Hello and welcome to this episode of Influential Entrepreneurs. This is Mike Saunders, the authority positioning coach. Today we have back with Scott Leonardi, who's the founder of complete solutions and we'll be talking about guaranteed income. Scott, welcome back to the program. Well, hello, Mike. It's great to be back. We've done in the past, it's been pretty awesome.

So I look forward to doing another awesome podcast on your show. Yeah, me too. You know, I think one of the most powerful words in the English language is guarantee. So I think when you can combine the words, guarantee and income, we got a great topic to talk about. So where do you start when you're working with your clients and your network, when you bring this topic up because when you talk about guaranteed income, that sure is a stark contrast to the risk and volatility that people typically are dealing with, right? You better believe it. And you have to really think heavily and hard about that volatility that occur because it obviously change and adjust your income coming in.

So it's so important. I teach people, you know, basic retirement planning really begins of cash flow, right? what's coming in, what's going out. And it's important. It begins with cash flow and ends with cash flow our whole entire life. So when we're trying to start figuring out that scenario, what's coming in? And over the years, we've seen some kind of serious changes in the retirement income planning concept, right? You know, you first of all consider the whole thought of pensions, you know, pensions.

You know, do you remember pensions? I remember hearing about them, yeah, way back in the day. And I tell people, pensions, if you have a pension, it's great, it's a beautiful positive thing. If you had a pension, then typically you had a Social Security, so you have multiple checks coming into the household. And you got a spouse, and they got some checks coming into the household. That's where the key is, multiple checks coming into the household to pay those expenses.

And those checks were typically guaranteed. You know, social security is guaranteed, your pension's guaranteed. But guess what? If you had a pension, and sometimes I offend people, if they have a pension, when I say this, But, you know, why do you have a pension? Well, guess what? You just showed up for work. You didn't get fired.

You put the years in. You retired and got your check. Now, I'm sure you worked hard, but you just showed up, right? What a beautiful thing to get extra check just for showing up, right? You put the time in. Well, today, most companies have gotten rid of pensions. They've disappeared. So now, what are those pensions?

They've gone, what's here now? You know, the 401K, right? But here's the problem with the 401K is people have to put money into the 401K first. right to get any type of match from the company if the company gives you a match you have to put money in first well again do a lot of people have a hard time you know saving money they sure do so we have to think yeah they so again if they're not going to have a pension in the end come retirement time we have to figure out what's coming in what's going out and then how do we take those assets they saved up and how do we turn that into some guaranteed income that again will last their whole entire life

it's just kind of a kind of a crucial thing right so like you said you know i like that comparison yeah i mean that comparison between the pension and the guaranteed income because i think that so many times people think oh i'm going to put in my 30 years get my gold watch file for social security and get my pension and between those two things i'm good to go well both of those you know aspects those those those uh pillars you know pension or security both of those either don't exist or people are little wary about are they going to exist the same way they are today. So you got to take matters in your own hands. And if you plan to have some of that guaranteed income buckets, and if you didn't need it, then good. You're way ahead of the game. But if you end up finding out that, wow, my company

eliminate that pension or my company never had the pension to begin with, you better have that guaranteed income. So define what actually is guaranteed income. Because I think that that is something that feels like it's far out to people. Yeah, yeah. I mean, the beautiful thing is can we take a portion of our retirement savings? I mean, people look at it two ways. A, I can just pull an X percentage amount out of my retirement savings every month. I'll use that income and everything will be fine.

Well, what happens if it's not? What happens if the market's down? Then you start pulling into principle. What happens if you run out of that money? That causes a serious problem. So the other way to think about this is, well, what if I can take a, part of my retirement savings, what if I can turn that into a personal private pension? Meaning, I could place it with an insurance company, a legal reserve insurance company that's

going to have all the guarantees to back up those dollars. And instead of giving me that lump sum guarantee, now they'll guarantee me a monthly income that'll come into my monthly check every single month until the day I pass away. So now I never have to worry about that check changing. I never have to worry about that check being smaller than what it was to begin with. And the beautiful thing is I can also add my spouse onto that if I want to have guaranteed income for my spouse coming in too. So we take our Social Security checks and some guaranteed pension money that we use from a guaranteed personal pension that we created. Now at least we can cover our expenses and not worry about those checks. Kind of gives you a little more comfort levels as you roll kind of end of retirement.

Yes, for sure. And you mentioned the guarantee portion of it is coming from, an insurance company. And so I think that when people are here like, oh, this newfangled plan of whatever the case is, it does make you feel good. But when you're talking about some of these insurance guarantees and having things in writing, I think that that, you know, correlates back into what we were talking about before with having that retirement plan, but having it in writing and set in stone. So that provides a good amount of peace of mind, wouldn't it? It surely does. It surely does. And statistics say,

when people's income is guaranteed, they have less worry in retirement. And worry just comes with tons of stress. So having that guarantee in place really just makes all the sense in the world. But he is how do we do that? How do we take some funds, put it into a private pension? What kind of a product actually does that? And how can it guarantee that money out? Well, you know, I always tell people,

let's think about what type of product that is from an insurance company. And one of the most common products that's used for that is an annuity. And, you know, kind of annuities have some kind of weird connotations, you know. I remember way back in the day, used to hear, oh, annuities are terrible, this, that or the other. But today it's kind of a whole different world. You know, I've had people that tell me, you know, I've never used an annuity. And I'm like, why? And they start telling me about what they kind of heard.

It's not really accurate. And then I find out they have a pension with state teachers. And I'm like, well, you realize that your pension with state teachers, you don't know how that's paid out? Well, no, it's just coming from that. No, it's being paid in a what? In an annuity. So many people use annuities with all their pensions, so they don't even realize that that's the case.

And the key is just using the right annuit. And getting the proper education, because, again, understanding the education about what type of annuities there are and what may be good for me and what may not be good for me is kind of an important deal. Yeah, 100%. And I would venture to say this, too. Every single person should not put every single dime in a generic annuity that they googled online. You need to have someone that goes, okay, let's make sure

that this is right for you at all. Secondly, if it is right, let's make sure we get the correct one. And then we're not going to put all of our eggs in one basket. So how do you help your clients figure out those questions because you don't want to put everything in the market or everything in an annuity? So how do you balance that out? Yeah, that's kind of the key. You know, diversification is the key. And sometimes you talk to some people and, you know, they're just a bit, big annuity plan and they say take all your money out and put it in the annuity or take all your money out and put it in seedings well all your money out into anything doesn't make sense you know we've got to be diversified there's nothing wrong with being in the market we just need to figure out how much risk can we

take how much are we willing to take and can it help build towards my portfolio and then be able to isolate out a certain amount to be able to give us all the guarantee income we have and we need right and again we use what i call volatility buffets volatility buffers meaning we want to use some accounts that aren't affected by the market, right? So we want to map that out, find out what the income they need. How do we generate that guaranteed income to get to the numbers? And then the rest of their investments, we don't have to pull from unless they're going to go spend $10,000

bucks on a river cruise somewhere. It's not money. They have to pull out on a monthly basis. And you can see, you can just imagine the stress that just relieved when you know all your expenses are take care of and you got extra money coming in on a monthly basis. That's the key. So it's using the right annuity, right product.

And just like you said, we're not going to take every dime you have and put it into that right product, even if it is a good one. So some of that is going to be well positioned into the market, you know, low volatility and all of that. But with that thought in mind, I've heard that there's a rule that you can use 4% of your money and your money just lasts until you die. I'm sure there's some holes in that theory. So talk a little bit about that. So I think some people might have heard that same kind of a thing. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's been around forever and ever. You know, the big economist says, listen, you should be able to pull out of your account values each year and never run out of money. Well, you know, that was the old day, right? And could that still work today? Well, it might. But today, it's a whole new world. Wouldn't you agree? I mean, a whole new set of issues, problems, political, political stuff, wars, culture changes. It's a whole new world. So I truly believe there's going to be a lot more volatility in the future than there ever was. well-being. Again, that's just my opinion based on all those scenarios. So the question is,

will that 4% rule kind of work? Well, if you read some other industry news out there that talks about this morning star, Morningstar did a recent report, and it talks about, well, maybe that 4% really should be 2.5%. Maybe it shouldn't be 4% because we're worried. You know, Barron's Motley Fool, those all kind of said maybe that 4% is just too high. Now, could 4% maybe work for you? Maybe. But could that exceed? the amount you need to take out and you run out of money before you pass away, it surely can. So the focus is you can't count on that one specific 4%. I think we need to be more conservative with our returns on that.

But then again, set the money aside that we need to to generate that guaranteed income. And as you said a couple different times, diversification is the key. Yeah. Some market money. Well, I think four percent. Some money, we call blue money. Savings check in. You got to have a diversity.

Yeah. I mean, anytime that there's a rule, like, oh, well, all you got to do is, then that's ready to be, you know, dispelled. Meaning when I hear that, oh, 4% lasts the rest of your life, well, would not if you're spending money like it's going out of style, you know? So if you have a good sane budget and if you know how much you actually need, then maybe possibly the 4% would work, but not if you're taking nine cruises a month. Exactly right. It goes, it leads back to your budget. It leads back to cash flow. You know, some retire people, some clients that I have, they need $3,000 a month. Four grand a month, they're living like king. Other clients, they need $6,000,000 a month to live comfortable or pay all their bills. That's a big difference. I mean, that's just a big difference.

So what your cash flow is is kind of really the crucial thing in this whole planning strategy to begin with. And that's what you mentioned several times is cash flow, which is an increase in the incoming cash. a decrease in the outgoing cash, and many of those things you can control, but sometimes you can't control those things. You know, we've talked about some of the expenses. And, you know, like I would venture to say, like the budget thing that I just brought up about, well, 4% wouldn't work if you, you know, go on nine cruises a month. The other aspect, too, is what about things like inflation?

Well, the 4% rule, what if you're in inflationary times, then that 4% rule is definitely out the window. So there's definitely things you have to take into that calculation for that, you know, written retirement income plan. You got, you got it. You know, I've always called myself a holistic planner. And I know today sometimes that buzzword gets beat up quite a bit, but I've been talking holistic planning for 30 years. You know, there's some planners out that maybe they just focus on the money. That's all. They don't care about the rest of it. They don't care about your social security. Go figure that out. Go talk to somebody else. You know, some people maybe just do the insurance. Well, my philosophy is your retirement,

plan should be like owning a car. If all you do was put gas in your car, and that's all you did, your car is not going to last, right? You got to do air pressure and two-nubs and oil change. You've got to do all that stuff. Same thing with your returnment plan. You have to look at everything and see how it all kind of fits together. That is absolutely key. And get the proper information. I mean, sometimes people are so afraid to go get educated on some of this stuff. They're afraid to go to a seminar because they're afraid of being sold. Why do people listen? You can all say no, right? You can try it, Mike. They know. No.

No. That was easy. That wasn't too hard. Nobody's going to manhandle you and take you by the shoulders and not let you out of the room. But you know what you might be doing is missing out on something. Exactly right. Like annuities. This is the whole education of annuities.

Well, there's four different types of annuities real quick. You know, some as you hear it well, annuities are very expensive. Annuities have risk. You can lose money in annuities. Well, all that stuff is not accurate when it's. it's all wrapped up in the one bubble. You know, the first kind of a fixed annuity. Fixed news is like a CD at the bank.

You put your money in, your money's guaranteed. Your principal's guaranteed. You're going to have a guarantee interest. No fees, no risks, no nothing. That's simple. So that gets rid of the myth. And typically the rate of return is higher than a CD in those. Typically, typically, and there's other advantages, but typically it's higher return.

But there's no fees. So you guys time I said, well, annuities all have high fees. Well, a fixed fee, fix has no fees. Right. You know, then you get into some other concepts. Like an equity index, fixed equity index product. Well, that's kind of linked to the market so it can chase us a better return. But when the returns negative, you get a zero.

Well, during that time, we say zero is your hero, right? If the market's minus seven and you get a zero percent return, no loss, is that a beautiful win? Yep, because you're still up seven than everyone else that lost seven. Exactly right. And a lot of those have no fees. The insurance company just keeps a piece of the return. Well, I'll give up a piece of the return. if I had no loss on the negative, right?

Yeah. And then, of course, the other one's like I have a variable annuity. That's kind of a blend, linked to the market. Now, the variable annuity can have ups and downs and you can have some loss in your, and potential some of your guarantees in certain circumstances. So again, the key is learning the products that you're going to use and becoming educated. Of course, the last one, of course, is the pension annuity. State teachers, the government, all those people have a pension, it's paid as an annuity.

So I love the people who says, I've never used an annuity, and they're sitting on a pension. Yes, you're using one right now. Yeah. Got crazy. Education. That's it. You know, it really is something where people hear a certain word and they go, oh, nope, nope, nope, nope. But in reality, that's many times old news, like what you've just described, you know, all of the high fees.

Well, they used to be back in the day. Now people are making the annuities better. Also, haven't I heard that potentially the right kind of annuity gives some sort of benefits while you're still living? that maybe some of those, you know, insurance policies might have provided. So what are some of those kind of riders that people should be aware of? Yeah, there's a variety of different kind of riders that you can add onto the policies. And some are, all of them are great if they're used for the right purpose. Like, you can do one that enhances the death benefit.

Maybe you're not going to use it. You're going to pass it on your beneficiaries. You want to have a larger death benefit. There you go. Some of them have a rider to be able to help you with nursing home care. So if you need nursing home care, you can turn on extra or maybe double the income, right? So there's a variety of different riders that you could put on that if it makes sense. But the kid is becoming educated, knowing and saying, hey, does this rider benefit me?

Am I trying to get this type of a result? Then those situations are great. But if you're paying for a bunch of riders just because not going to benefit your situation, kind of not a good situation, not a good situation. And I love the guaranteed income when we talk about creating that guarantee. income because let's just take the example of 4%, right? So let's say you have whatever, you have 200,000 bucks in your retirement portfolio, and you're pulling out 4%.

And of course, we're worried because of the market doesn't gain 4%. If the market goes up and down, we could have a problem getting into the principle. Well, the annuity with an income rider will typically guarantee a percentage of that return that you have out in a guaranteed number, maybe 5%, 6% or 7% guaranteed. Well, 4% of 200,000 or 6% or 6% or 7% guaranteed. 7% of 200,000, which one's going to give you more money? Yeah, the higher. The 6% or 7%, right?

Right? So they've got the ability to pay out that guaranteed percentage, and now you can maximize that return and maximize your income for the rest of your life. And again, the key is knowing the products and services, and people say, well, how can an insurance company do that? Well, trust me, the insurance companies doesn't do anything unless it's profitable to them, right? Yep.

It's probably to be a win for all sides. Got it. It's got to be a win. Got to be a win for all signs. Yeah. So it's kind of a nice thing. Again, if that product fits what we're trying to accomplish in your goals, it's a win. If it doesn't fit, you shouldn't be using it, right?

Well, just like we've mentioned several times, don't hear one certain thing on this interview, this conversation, and go Google this and go click, click, done. Because there's never one certain thing that you should hear and say. up and do because you might have a different situation than the next person. And I think that that's a big thing to keep in mind that you brought up the holistic approach. Because if you are so myopic and you have those blinders on like the, you know, the animal blinders so they can't see to the right or the left, you know, that focus is good. But if you can't see the whole panorama, you might be missing out on something. So get with someone that can look at your situation and see if one of these kinds of guaranteed income products makes the most sense. So this actually turns into then,

like you said earlier, I love that phrase, personal pension. You know, pensions are pretty much gone by the wayside, but now you can create something that acts like your personal pension. So how does that in a written retirement income plan, you know, really tie the bow and give some clients peace of mind? Yeah, yeah. I'm glad you brought that up, Mike. That is excellent because so many people listen to, you know, so we call gurus on the internet or, you know, in the news media, right? And there's a lot of great ones.

I can name a few, but I would violate a trademark violation or something. But we all know there's, you know, three, four guys out there or girls out there that say this stuff. And they all got great stuff to say. But I say, listen, they're saying this one concept out to the whole audience and that concept

may apply to you, it may not apply to you. It just depends on your situation. So again, take all that stuff with a grant a thought, learn, become educated, and then again, they implement the stuff that makes sense, but do it through a planner. Like I say, go to my website, dot, dot, plan.com. I have a lot of tools on there just for you to start looking at things you should be thinking about just to create a plan to see what makes sense in your specific situation.

And that's got the key. 100%. Well, I think that's a great way to wrap up this thought here. I just, like I started off saying, the word guaranteed income, sure, it makes a lot. of sense and it would keep me from not getting that pit in the middle of my stomach when I open up my retirement portfolio statement quarterly or watching the news and seeing what the market is doing. So I think that is so powerful to be brought to our attention, Scott. So I will make sure that we have the direct link to your website here in the show notes so that people can reach out

and connect with you. And I really appreciate you coming on and chatting with us again today. Listen, I'm excited to be here. Everybody needs to have a written retirement income plan. Just again, figure out the numbers and be comforted. Now, the biggest worry that most retirees have is what? Am I going to run out of money? Out of living. Put a plan in place.

What a plan in place. So you can live that great adventure more comfortably. Love it. Awesome, my friend. Well, thank you so much for coming back on. I really appreciate your time. Great. Great.

See you next time, buddy. Bye. for now. You've been listening to Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, visit www. www. influential entrepreneursradio.com.