The summer is a great time to take a break from many of the day-to-day activities that take up most of our time and thoughts. It’s time to enjoy the outdoors and share it with family and friends. It’s also an opportunity for reflection when we perhaps better see the forest from the trees.

As wealth managers at Newport Private Wealth we encourage our clients to reflect on personal, family and business goals. Some questions to ask are: Where do you see yourself in five years? What obstacles or challenges do you need to overcome to get there? What is the greatest risk to your financial prosperity?

If retirement is part of the plan, are you on track? Is your personal balance sheet up to date? Have you recently done financial projections to test your plan (see summertime offer to crash test your retirement plan)?

If you are a business owner, how current is your business plan? Should you re-examine your growth strategy, target an acquisition or plan for succession? Do you even know what your business is worth should a suitor come knocking?

For me, summer is the best time of year to share quality family time. It’s a great opportunity to reinforce family values, strengthen ties and build on shared experiences that are, frankly, priceless.

For most of the year we get caught up in the details of managing our lives. At Newport Private Wealth, we structure and manage investment portfolios, plan to minimize taxes, prepare effective estate plans and generally help our clients manage their financial affairs. Our job is to plan and implement strategies to help our clients achieve their objectives. Defining those objectives is critical to the success of any plan and should be considered thoughtfully at a time when the mind is less cluttered.

During these dog days of August, take some time to consider some of the more important questions towards achieving success in your personal, family and business life.