If your company offers an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), you’ve probably heard it described as a fantastic perk or "free money." If your plan includes a 15% discount and a lookback period, it isn’t just a good perk — it's a great one, and mathematically one of the highest-yielding, lowest-risk investment vehicles available to you.

Being hired into an L6+ role at Google is a different financial experience than earlier career stages. At this level, base salary matters—but equity and tax strategy are what ultimately drive long-term outcomes.

Getting hired at Google is a major milestone. Along with exciting work and career momentum comes a compensation package that is more complex, and more powerful than many employees realize at first.