The phones were quiet. On February 5, 2018 the Dow dropped 1175 points. It was the worst single-day point drop in history.   And still the phones were quiet. The media did what it does best: speculate and incite panic. What caused this catastrophe? Fear of rising inflation? The FBI probe? Fed policy? Malfunctioning trading algorithms? Unwinding of inverse VIX speculation? Would it get worse? Who is to blame? What can you do to protect your investments?   Seriously the phones didn’t ring once. Not even an email. To a financial planner silence is golden, especially during market turmoil. It…

Picture the scene: the stove is at capacity; four stock pots, full of snow, are melting under high heat. On the counter, more pots crowned with colanders are busy filtering leaves, pine needles and other detritus from the meltwater. On the floor, barrels full of fresh snow sit ready to enter the assembly line.  The entire operation has been underway for over three hours, all in the effort to provide enough clean water to flush a toilet once. It’s times like these when you learn obscure facts. Did you know it takes an average of 10 inches of snow to…