Once you've taken the first steps toward reaching your financial goals, you will need to review your portfolio regularly to ensure that you are staying on track.

Market conditions or some aspect of your personal financial situation may change. If the change is significant, you should consider adjusting your portfolio's asset mix. Even if no major changes occur in the market or with your personal financial situation, you should still review your portfolio to determine if its asset mix reflects your intended investment strategy.

One way to evaluate the performance of your investments is to compare their returns to a benchmark—an index that measures the average performance of a representative group of securities. There are a variety of indexes you can use for this purpose. Choose the type of benchmark that is most appropriate for each individual investment in your portfolio.

Here is a list of some of the common stock indexes:

• Dow Jones Industrial Average—First appearing in 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is the most widely quoted market indicator. It measures the returns of 30 of the largest companies in the U.S. that are thought to be representative of our total economy.

• Standard & Poor's 500 Index—One of the most widely-used benchmarks today, the S & P 500 tracks the stocks of 500 of the largest companies as chosen by Standard & Poor's.

• NASDAQ OTC Price Index—The OTC Price Index is based on the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ)

• Russell 2000 Index—Designed to be a comprehensive representation of the small capitalization market, the Russell 2000 tracks the common stock of 2,000 smaller U.S. companies.

• Wilshire Small Cap Index—Designed to measure the performance of small cap companies, the Wilshire Small Cap Index consists of 250 companies with an average market capitalization of $933 million.

• Wilshire 5000 Equity Index—Covering the broadest of all U.S. averages and indexes, the Wilshire 5000 tracks the market value of all U.S. stocks for which price data can be obtained. It reflects returns of more than 7000 securities.

Chances are your financial objectives will not fluctuate as much as the stock market. Experts advise not to worry about short-term market fluctuations. If your investment strategy is designed to meet long-term goals, stick with your strategy. As a guideline, the only time it may be appropriate to make changes is when your personal circumstances or your objectives change.

You can reduce your risk by rebalancing assets regularly to maintain your desired asset allocation between stock, bond and cash holdings. Rebalancing is the act of adjusting your portfolio back to the original allocation percentages, through direction of new money or reallocation between funds that have appreciated and depreciated away from the portfolio's original allocation percentages. Typically, the need to rebalance should be reviewed every one to three years, or when great appreciation or depreciation of your portfolio has occurred.

A systematic investment technique like dollar cost averaging is appropriate for some people. With dollar cost averaging, a set amount of your net premium is invested at regular intervals, no matter which direction the market is headed. That way you purchase more investment units when the market is down, and fewer when it is up. This helps even out the average price per unit, hence "dollar cost averaging," and decreases market timing risk. Please note that this technique does not ensure a gain or protect against a loss in a declining market. Consider your financial ability to continue premium payments through periods of low averaging options.

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.

No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against a loss.