The ripple effect of a calamity on nerves and the markets

For Edward Kohlhepp, a certified financial planner with Kohlhepp Investment Advisors Ltd. in Doylestown, Pa., the memories of 9/11 are still vivid. “It took us months to feel normal — businesswise and personally. Everything was moving in slow motion,” he said. “I found that people in the mid-Atlantic region either knew someone, or knew of someone, who had been killed.” Several weeks after the tragedy, Mr. Kohlhepp and his wife, still with sick feelings in the pit of their stomachs, left for South Carolina on vacation. “What we found was very startling to us — the people down there felt bad about it, but they didn't have the same gut feeling as we did,” he said. “It hit close to home in two ways. I have a close colleague who lost a daughter in the Twin Towers, and I have two friends who were close to the pilot who went down with the plane in Western Pennsylvania,” Mr. Kohlhepp said. There still is an effect on his practice.

TERRORISM AND THE MARKETS

“Many of our clients are still very concerned about terrorism, especially when the markets go south. They ask about the potential impact of a terrorist act on the markets. And they're going to be more reminded about that issue now that the anniversary is coming up,” Mr. Kohlhepp said. “It has had an effect on our lives that is much deeper than what's apparent on the surface. For example, when we travel by air, now we have to go through the [Transportation Security Administration] lines,” he said. “Even with the recent hurricane, there was very little impact on Ground Zero, yet they showed it on TV. It's never really completely removed from your thought processes.”