Most of us think about money more than we’d like: how to save it how to spend it how to invest it. How much of it we are throwing away on gas or dinner or toys and how much more of it we need to buy that fancy fill-in-the-blank. There are three ways to make money: earn more save more or inherit. Whatever your means financial advisors stress asset diversification which translates into making sure that all of your wealth is not tied up in one particular area like real estate or stocks. They also emphasize creating a nest egg for an emergency situation. Anyone who suffered through the recession of 2008 and beyond knows the importance of that sage bit of wisdom. In fact without assets a family can feel a financial crisis when missing just one month’s paycheck or when encountering an unforeseen expense. According to the Federal Reserve Board’s recent Survey of Household Economics and Decision-Making an unexpected expense of $400 would lead a near majority of US households to borrow money or sell something to cover the outlay — or simply not pay at all. We asked our panel to weigh in on how families can properly manage and grow their assets at each significant stage in life.