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What it boils down to: Money is power.
But for Sallie Krawcheck, a former Wall Street executive and founder and CEO of Ellevest, all that complicated jargon can be boiled down into one simple truth that she wishes everyone - especially women - knew: Money is power.
"We hear this term so often, empowerment," she told Business Insider. "Empowerment actually means to be given power."
Whether it's through a promotion at work or as the breadwinner at home, possession of money translates to a measure of power.
For women in particular, money is the means to closing the gender pay gap, which still sees women making only 80% of the salaries men earn for the same jobs.
"We've made progress, but that progress has stalled," Krawcheck says to women. "I really think the final or one of the final legs of feminism is for us to become financially equal with men. And putting it another way, until we are financially equal with men, we are not equal with men."
Krawcheck urges every woman to take a stand for her own finances - advice anyone can follow. Ask for a promotion. Start investing. Get your own finances in order.
"The things that we can control - which is investing - is something that I'm urging everyone to control," she says. "Step into that power, recognize that power that we have."