There's no shortage of ways to save for your child's education. Once you know that you are ready to start, you must decide how.

Investment Options
Your individual goals, attitude toward risk and your investment time horizon for achieving your goals will help determine the types of investments that are best for you.* Some options may include:

• Mutual Funds**
• Unit Investment Trusts (UITs)**
• Money Market Funds**
• Equity Investments
• Fixed Income Investments
• Annuities

**You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, expenses and charges of the investment company before you invest. Your Northwestern Mutual Investment Services Registered Representative can provide you with a prospectus that will contain the information noted above, and other important information that you should read carefully before you invest or send money.

Educational costs are a significant budget item for any family, but you do have a number of options. You can start early. Budget education funding for your children from birth, for example. You can also help them save for their own higher education expenses during their pre-college years. Children generally have access to loan programs and other tuition-assistance programs to help them attend the college they choose, so take advantage of these options.

If your children are still young, they can begin contributing to their own higher education savings with after-school jobs, paper routes, or other activities. You may want to establish an investment account and teach your children to routinely contribute some of their earnings. You'll not only be reducing your future educational costs, but you'll be teaching your children a valuable savings habit.

You might also use federal and state college savings programs. These contributions are also tax-deferred until the money is used for college, then the earnings are taxed to the student at his/her tax bracket. Kiplingers.com suggests working with a plan that invests primarily in stocks when your child is young, let you use the money at any college without penalty, and doesn't set a low cap on your yearly contribution.

Consider an educational trust plan. A trust puts you in control of the future of those who depend on you most. Nothing else does more to ensure the continued management of your assets according to guidelines you specify. A trust can create important tax advantages that can help preserve the assets you've worked hard to build.

The Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA), also referred to as the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA), is a way for a minor to own securities. The UGMA/UTMA is commonly used to give money to a minor. Current IRS regulations allow a person to give $11,000 per year to any other person with no tax consequences. If the recipient is a minor, the UGMA provides a way for the minor to own the assets without involving an attorney to establish a special trust. Under UGMA/UTMA, the donor must appoint a custodian (trustee) when giving assets to a minor.

Mutual Funds, Unit Investment Trusts, and Money Market Funds are offered and sold by prospectus only. You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, expenses and charges of the investment company before you invest. Your Northwestern Mutual Investment Services Registered Representative can provide you with a prospectus that will contain the information noted above, and other important information that you should read carefully before you invest or send money. An investment in the Money Market Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Although the Money Market Fund seeks to reserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the funds.