Care, Protect, Grow: Empower Your Family Through Special Needs Financial Planning

Proven strategies to help you care for your special needs family

In Care, Protect, Grow: Empower Your Family Through Special Needs Financial Planning, a team of experienced financial planners delivers a holistic blueprint for the successful management of the complex challenges that come from navigating life as a special needs family. The book is an in-depth overview of how to piece together the disparate components you need to make sense of--including financial planning, care planning, investing, taxation, legal considerations, government benefits--in order to provide for your family.

You'll learn to calculate the lifetime cost of care of a loved one, establish a care plan to address day-to-day supports, and understand how different decision-making supports--like Power of Attorney, Guardianship, and Supported Decision-Making--work:

Inside the book:

• Tax planning and tax efficiency strategies in a changing legal landscape
• Retirement planning tips and investing considerations for people responsible for a child with special needs
• Techniques to minimize insurance risks, understand employee benefits, and how to know when permanent life insurance may be necessary

Perfect for people in special needs families, the families of people with a developmental disability, and the families of people with a rare disease, Care, Protect, Grow is an invaluable resource for anyone with a professional or personal stake in the support of families of people with special needs.

Author: Kristin Carleton,Kathy Matthews,Mary McDirmid
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 05/12/2026
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.14h x 5.99w x 1.19d
ISBN: 9781394334667

About the Author

KRISTIN CARLETON lives with her husband and two children in Richmond, Virginia. She founded All Needs Planning with two other special needs mothers who knew there had to be a better way to support families needing special needs planning. Her sig-nature method of addressing care needs, protections, and growth opportunities ensures holistic planning that meets the needs of every family member.

KATHY MATTHEWS, PHD, lives with her two sons in Powhatan, Virginia. She joined All Needs Planning with a quest to answer the question, "What does your family need?" instead of "How do we fit your family into what already exists?" Dr. Matthews earned her doctorate from Columbia University in human behavior and uses her expertise in special education to lead the Special Needs Master Class.

MARY McDIRMID lives with her husband and two daughters in Spokane, Washington. Mary became a special needs planner when her daughter was in the NICU, bringing empathy and understanding from her personal experience to every client interaction. Her mission is to make sure families feel seen, connected with, and valued.