lots of places have offers to employees. I remember IBM did it with stock at a discount in the late 50's. I liked the discount and I just took advantage of it, then sold the stock on it's next peak. Your friend could buy at the discount, sell immediately on the open market to make the discount profit and then pay down credit cards a little. She could even start to learn about getting rich by reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" (you all have poor dad's). and also read "How to Make Money in Stocks" It takes about three years of investing to equal your salary (52K) starting with about nothing.