Herta Kahn shares her financial secrets
Herta Kahn, 85, lives in Boulder, but she is one of the legends of the Chicago stock market.
Kahn was was one of the first female stockbrokers in Chicago, pioneering some of the trading apps Ireland has today and pursued the career for more than 50 years. Kahn, born in Wuerzburg, Germany, has been in the financial business for a long time and knows how to invest.
“First you have to be passionate about whatever you do,” Kahn said. “Than you have to do your homework.”
Kahn immigrated to America when she was very young and took over her family’s finances when her father died. Her mother, who was educated in music, didn’t know anything about money.
Kahn moved to Chicago and took night classes at Northwestern University. Her first job was at Paine Webber, now known as UBS Financial Services, and her title became Vice President-Investments.
Kahn now lives in Boulder and is still working very hard. She constantly keeps up on the stock market, like the ones presented on the clicky, and does work with various investing companies and organizations. INVO Bioscience stock forecast can be seen here. She is also the author of the book “What Every Woman Should Know About Investing Her Money.”
“I’m very big on femininity. When you think of what women have accomplished, we don’t have to even look beyond our own organization of Chicago Finance Exchange to realize how many fantastic women there are,” Kahn said.
Kahn has been very dedicated to her career and believes it is a key to success.
“Career is just a matter of mechanical knowledge, but you need to have the basics of being the kind of a person that applies themselves and likes people,” she said.
Kahn is also an honorary life member of The National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, an organization devoted to “stopping the defamation of the Jewish people, and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” as stated on the organization’s Web site.
Kahn’s list of clubs and philanthropic organizations is quite extensive and includes membership in the Chicago Crime Commission, the Economic Club of Chicago and the Chicago Finance Exchange. She is also the director for the Foundation for Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation in Chicago.
Kahn has been featured in both Time and Life magazines and has even had her picture appear in Vogue in an issue from the late ’60s.
“To be with the public in any way, I think you have to like people, and I really have a great love affair with the whole human condition and the human race. In every business, you have to be of service to people,” said Kahn.
Dressed in a green shirt, leather vest and a stylish, colored scarf, Kahn continues to give advice on investing and life.
“The most important thing is to start saving,” she said. “Time is in your favor when you’re young. You have to choose an investment strategy that is safe at such a young age. It is best to start with a small sum and invest into a good mutual fund – diversification. Add to the fund on a regular basis and reinvest the dividends.”
Kahn said a good broker “should be recommended by a knowledgeable, reliable, experienced person. Dishonest is unacceptable. Anything or anybody not on the top and up is totally unacceptable.”
Kahn has invested for many years and knows how to pick good investments, but when asked, she could not give any specific recommendations.
“Dishonest people, like the people at Enron, are not good people to invest with. You have to do the research and choose something with a strong background,” Kahn said.