Managing money a lifelong career: Boulderite, 85, among the first female brokers

Managing money a lifelong career

Boulderite, 85, among the first female brokers

By Leia Baez, Denver Post Staff Writer

Herta Hess Kahn, 85, learned finance by necessity as a child, became one of the first female stockbrokers in the country, wrote a book on investing for women in the 1960s and continues working today as a marketing consultant from her Boulder home.

The wisdom she offers is about financial literacy and self-sufficiency.

"It's a feeling of prowess to know you can take care of yourself," said Kahn, who has been widowed twice and has children and grandchildren. "It's certainly one of the things that keeps me young."

Kahn was first introduced to finance and money when she was 9 years old in Germany. Her father, who had managed the family's money, had died.

"My mother knew nothing about finance, so I took over everything and I was fascinated by it, Kahn said in an interview Tuesday at The Academy, a retirement home in Boulder.

Her mother perished during the Holocaust, Kahn said. Through family connections, she and her sister immigrated to the U.S. and lived in Chicago.

She worked ruing the day at a printing and advertising firm and attended Northwestern University at night. That led to her job as a secretary in 1941 for Paine Webber, now UBS. She eventually became a stockbroker and was one of the first women in the nation to do so.

"I was the only woman in the Chicago firm for about 25 years," she said. "And the men were wonderful. It was the women who did not understand why a woman who was supported (by a husband) had to work."

In 1968, she wrote a book titled, "What Every Woman Should Know About Investing Her Money."

"Everybody has to have a financial foundation," she said.

Kahn recently moved to Colorado, where she has continued a passion for golf.

"She is a wonderful person," said Tina Wilson, executive director of The Academy. "I think the thing that impressed me most is that she moved here and fit right in. She is so personable and she has had wonderful life experiences, a wonderful career, and she is well-traveled."

Kahn continues to work as a marketing consultant for Segall Bryant and Hamill, a Chicago financial services firm. "I love life and people and the fact that I'm still working helps a lot."

Dressed in a leopard-print outfit, wearing bright red lipstick and nail polish, with a stylish haircut, Kahn maintains a vibrant outlook.

"At my age people wonder when they are going to die instead of living life to the fullest," she said. "We only go through this business once."

When asked what she felt about recent corporate scandals, Kahn said, "When greed takes over terrible things happen, and they have to be corrected. Anything that is dishonest is unacceptable."

Kahn is an honorary life member of The National Commission and the Chicago Executive Committee of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. She is also a member of the Chicago Crime Commission, the New York Society of Security Analysts, The investment Analysts Society of Chicago, The Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Finance Exchange.