Fiction and education, not advice. See our Disclaimer.
This is fiction. Alex Rivera is a made-up name. We are not using real Google compensation bands, levels, or RSU grants. The salary, vest, and balances below are invented hypothetical 2026 U.S. figures, used only to talk about high cost of living and concentration. Not a real person’s books. Not a recommendation to work at, leave, or invest around any employer.
Alex is 34, a software engineer at a well-known campus in the Bay Area. The badge works. The rent is the plot. Take-home looks like a flex until you subtract a one-bedroom that costs more than Derek Hall’s entire month, and then it looks like a spreadsheet that needs a nap.
Invented compensation snapshot (not real Google numbers)
| Item | Fictional figure |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $178,000 |
| August take-home (after 401(k), tax, benefits) | $8,210 |
| RSU vest this month (gross, made-up share count × a made-up price) | $5,400 |
| Withheld for tax on the vest (approx.) | −$1,188 |
| Net leftover from vest, still in employer stock | ~$4,212 |
Again: those figures are props. Real grants, refreshers, and withholding vary by level, location, and year — and we did not look any of that up, because this is not a compensation database wearing a story hat. Do not reverse-engineer a band from a blog character.
August 2026 cash flow (fictional)
| Category | In | Out |
|---|---|---|
| Paycheck take-home (2 pays) | $8,210 | |
| Rent + utilities (1BR near campus) | $3,480 | |
| Groceries, transit, takeout | $980 | |
| Automatic taxable index-fund draft | $600 | |
| Phone, gym, subscriptions | $164 | |
| Student loan leftover (undergrad) | $185 | |
| Net to checking | +$2,801 before treating the vest as “spendable” | |
The 401(k) already came out of gross — a target-date fund in this story, which is a classroom default, not a product pitch. The $600 draft is the same habit described in the automatic S&P 500 explainer: a scheduled buy into a broad U.S. large-cap index, with the usual risks attached (drawdowns, no guarantees, not the whole world).
Net worth, August 31, 2026 (fictional)
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Checking + HYSA | $19,600 |
| 401(k) (target-date / index mix) | $96,400 |
| Taxable index funds | $11,850 |
| Employer stock (RSUs held, fictional) | $38,200 |
| Car | $0 (bike + Caltrain, a choice with weather opinions) |
| Student loan | −$14,800 |
| Net worth | $151,250 |
Do the percentage: employer stock is about a quarter of the net worth, and 100% of the paycheck comes from the same building. That is concentration in two costumes. The index-fund draft and the 401(k) are the diversification already on stage. They are also smaller than the rent line, which is how high COL steals the scene from a high W-2.
The educational theme, not a trade
Classroom version: a large paycheck in an expensive zip code can still produce a tight-feeling month, and income plus equity from one employer is concentrated risk. A broad index fund is one common way people describe spreading market risk over time. It can fall 30–50%. It is not a promise. Selling RSUs can create taxes. Holding them can create a single-name hole. There is no free plot twist.
We are not telling anyone to buy, sell, or size anything. Follow Alex in their category. Background reading: Why We Keep Coming Back to Automatic S&P 500 Investing.
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