One thing we believe at Ellevest: money is not just money. It can be a lot more than just money.

I like to say that money can be the power to live the lives we want.

To leave the job you hate, leave the relationship that no longer works for you, start the business you’re dreaming about, take that trip around the world.

Money can also be the power of protest.

We saw that with the Redditors buying up GameStop stock. Regardless of whether you saw it as a powerful protest against “the man” (in this case, Wall Street hedge funds) or market manipulation — and it really was a bit of a Rorschach test — it demonstrated the power of money coming together.

And it can be the power of the positive.

One good thing to come out of 2020 was a significant increase in “impact investing,” which is simply aligning your investment dollars with your values to drive positive social and environmental change along with a financial return.

Investing your money in stocks and funds with better policies and practices on gender diversity, for example. Or companies that are doing right by the environment, that have a strong stance on social issues like human rights and racial justice, companies that have strong corporate governance.

That also means divesting — or taking your investment dollars out of — companies with policies and practices that don’t align with your values. Refusing to let the status quo stay the status quo.

If we collectively get capital to companies that align with our values — and starve those that don’t — it can make a difference.

In our financial wellness community survey, we asked you to tell us what money means to you.

I like the way that Jessica from California put it: that money can be “power, possibility, progress, execution of vision, creation of beauty, enabler of creativity.”

Disclosures