Changing the Rules: Adventures of a Wall Street Maverick [Hardcover]

Ms Siebert begins her journey, _When I left Cleveland with five hundred dollars and a used Studebaker just before Thanksgiving 1954, I had been away from home and family only once...But that one trip the previous summer was a vacation in New York City with two girl friends_. Nearly fifty years later, she is presenting her views on how to improve 401(k) retirement plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) directly to top goverment leaders in Washington D.C. and on 13 August 2002 at President Bush's Economic Forum in Waco, Texas, USA.

In between, Ms Siebert had an awe-inspiring career. Briefly, the highlights include first woman to purchase a seat on the NYSE (#2646, 28 Dec 1967) and first female Superintendent of Banking for the State of New York. as well as running her own brokerage firm to become the first self-made woman Billionaire for a day in February 1999.

Even with these lofty accomplishments, Ms Siebert presents a down-to-earth and pragmatic review of her career. Her dogged determination and unrelenting persistence is highlighted as she recounts the obsticles she overcame. Being first is not without its share of problems. As history has shown on innumerable occasions, an established majority is resistant to accept the usurping minority culture. Ms Siebert's challenges were primarily experienced through prejudices involving gender and religion (anti-semitism).

It is inspiring for me to read about her coping methods. Whether it is a humourous Hallmark Card or storming a table at a posh restaurant, Ms Seibert is standing up for what she believes. Yes, she does learn to choose her battles and to have another job before she threatens to quit, however, she makes modifications without jeoparding her integrity or her spiritual commitment.

I have learned that the one spiritual value that cannot be imitated is the act of giving. Ms Siebert writes that _Giving is more than an obligation, it's a privilege_. She backs up these words with a lifetime of giving: volunteer time at the Henry Street Settlement on Manhattan's Lower East Side early in her career, and a continuous record of providing financial opportunities throughout her business life. For example, she has established the Siebert Entrepreneurial Philanthropic Plan (SEPP) which contributes to charities 50 percent of the selling concession after clearing costs that she earns on new securites. In many cases, Ms Seibert explains, _the client choses the charity. It's a chance to share profits from this business with organizations serving the communities from which we receive new opportunities_.

In a time when the Attorney General of her own state is now revealing an unprecedented level of corruption and bankruptcy of ethics in the Mutual Fund Business, it is refreshing to read of a person on Wall Street who, after 50 years in the Business of Financial Services can write, _I sleep well at night, knowing that I've been competitive but honest, tenacious but scrupulous, tough, but fair_.

PEACE