One Team Through It All
For 40 years, Mercer Advisors has been helping families amplify and simplify their financial lives. As a financial advisor to Googlers, we help coordinate every piece: financial planning, investment management, tax, estate, insurance, and more, all managed by a single team. Because your finances work better when they work together.
How Mercer Advisors Helps Googlers Seek Financial Independence
Our team helps you navigate the complexities of Google equity compensation. We align your equity, salary, and benefits into a cohesive plan designed for long-term growth and clarity, executed by a team with deep experience advising other Googlers.
Specialized Services for Googlers
- Tax-smart equity planning for GSUs, refreshers, and avoiding the AMT
- Alphabet stock diversification to help reduce concentration risk while preserving upside
- After-Tax 401(k) planning to help maximize mega backdoor Roth opportunities
- Bonus & vesting tax modeling to optimize your bonus and GSU tax timing
- Integrated cash flow planning that aligns your base salary, bonus, GSUs and deferred comp
- GSU withholding reviews to help ensure accurate tax coverage on vesting events
Mercer Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice to clients. All estate planning document preparation and other legal advice is provided through select third parties unaffiliated to Mercer Advisors.
Tax preparation and tax filing are a separate fee from our investment management and planning services.
A Family Office for Your Family
We’ve adapted the sophisticated, time-tested strategies used by ultra-high-net-worth individuals to help more families take control of their financial future.
A unified in-house team
of planners, investors, accountants, and estate strategists that designs — and executes — your financial plan.
A hand-picked advisor
who is focused on serving you, not on finding new clients.
An institutional-grade portfolio
personalized to you and managed by a team of 100+ investment professionals, not just one advisor.
A boutique fiduciary with national strength
that combines intimate service and sophisticated capability, and only acts in your best interest.
Mercer Advisors offers the strength of a large national firm with the personal touch you expect from a local office.
Read Reviews from our Clients
Helping families like yours for 40 years and counting.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Google Stock Units (GSUs) are taxed as ordinary income when they vest, based on the fair market value of Alphabet stock on the vesting date. Google typically withholds taxes at a flat supplemental rate (22% federal for most employees), which may be insufficient for higher earners, leading to a potential tax shortfall at year-end.
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The decision to sell or hold Alphabet shares depends on your financial goals and risk tolerance. Holding can offer long-term upside potential, but many Googlers accumulate a concentrated position, which increases portfolio risk. Selling strategically (especially after vesting) can help diversify and reduce exposure to a single stock, while managing capital gains taxes.
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We believe in simple, transparent fees. As a fee-based fiduciary, we can remain focused on doing what’s best for you, not commissions.
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Google’s 401(k) plan allows after-tax contributions beyond the standard pre-tax/Roth limits (up to the IRS total limit of $69,000 in 2024, including employer match). These after-tax dollars can be converted to a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k), allowing for tax-free growth on a much larger contribution base than a standard Roth IRA.
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Concentration risk is the biggest concern. If Alphabet stock underperforms, your net worth and income (if still employed as a Googler) could both take a hit. It also limits diversification, which can increase portfolio volatility and reduce long-term risk-adjusted returns.
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At Mercer Advisors, the phrase “unified in-house team” refers to our integrated group of professionals — financial planners, investment managers, tax advisors, estate strategists, insurance specialists, and other professionals — who collaborate to design and execute your comprehensive financial plan. This unified approach helps ensure all aspects of your financial life are working together.
