Ray Kroc built McDonalds into a juggernaut and built his own fortune into the billions. When he died, his wife Joan made the decision to give it all away upon her death. How did they build this money-making machine? How and why did she give it away? We talk empire-building and estate planning on today’s show! Lisa Napoli, author of the new biography Ray & Joan joins us in the basement with stories and lessons.
In our headline segment we reveal some disturbing information about car trade-ins and the results of a retirement plan survey. We throw out the Haven Life line to Dave, who asks about refinancing his student loans, and take a letter from Stacey, who wants to know how to invest an inheritance. Should he pay down low interest debt or invest? Or course we also throw in a helping of Doug’s trivia and much, much more!
Show Notes:

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<5:45>Headlines
- Record Number of Car Buyers Upside-Down on Trade-Ins (USA Today)
- Millennials Mull More Retirement Mandates (Napa-Net)
<16:54> Lisa Napoli: Ray & Joan

A special thanks to Lisa for spending some time with us. You can find links to all of Lisa’s writing at LisaNapoli.com.
<33:41>Doug’s Trivia
- What year did the McDonald’s brothers create the first McDonald’s restaurant?
Need help with your financial plan? Use this link to schedule a meeting with OG: StackingBenjamins.com/OG
<38:26> Haven Life Line

Need life insurance? You could be insured in 20 minutes or less and build your family’s safety net for the future. Use StackingBenjamins.com/HavenLife to calculate how much you need and apply.
- Dave: refinance student loans together or separately?
<44:35> A Letter From the Mailbag
- Stacey: Received an inheritance…what to do with it?
Need help with your financial plan? Use this link to schedule a meeting with OG: StackingBenjamins.com/OG
Join us Friday
Robert Farrington from TheCollegeInvestor.com joins Len and Greg in our roundtable discussion!
Having billions to give away is a great problem to have! Estate planning is interesting to me, but it’s really not that applicable to millennials. Maybe in a few years as millennials age, or perhaps as they help their parents do their estate planning.
Agreed. Although millennials often don’t think about the beneficiary on their 401k or Roth IRA, or about having life insurance when you’re a young parent.
I think the better part of the Kroc story for millennials is how Ray built the empire. Focusing on systems and process turned the McDonald brother’s “hobby” into a powerhouse. Also, what Lisa said about having a great tax strategy from the beginning….good stuff for millennials.