planning AHEAD - Keeping Personal Information Safe When Using the Planning AHEAD Workbook

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Blaney

Planning AHEAD provides structured guidance for advance directives, managing financial changes, estate planning, and decisions at the end of life. It emphasizes safe handling of sensitive, confidential personal information entered in the workbook, recommending typing responses into fillable electronic fields and storing completed files securely. It includes practical steps such as saving to a flash drive, using locked storage, safeguarding keys with a trusted personal representative, and keeping a backup copy on a second secured drive.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryForms

FormatPDF

Pages83

Reading Time29 min

AccessFree to download

Getting Started

Handling Financial Changes

Advance Medical and Legal Directives

Estate Planning

Choices in End-of-Life Care

Final Wishes

Understanding Grief

Keeping Personal Information Safe When Using the Planning AHEAD Workbook

Steps to keep the information entered in this workbook secure

[finances.extension.wisc.edu](finances.extension.wisc.edu) planning AHEAD Advance directives, Handling financial changes, Estate planning, and Arriving at Decisions for the end of this life An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title VI, Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requirements. |
planning AHEAD
| | | | --- | --- | --- | | | Contributors
All Planning AHEAD contributors are with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension.
Project leads
Jenny Abel, Financial Security Outreach Program Manager, Human Development and Relationships Institute (HDRI)
Sara Richie, Life Span Outreach Program Manager, HDRI
Authors Jackie Carattini, Associate Professor, HDRI Sherry Daniels, Associate Professor, HDRI
Selena Freimark, Extension Educator, Health and Well-Being Institute
Jane Jensen, Associate Professor, HDRIDeb Neubauer, Extension Educator, HDRI Peggy Olive, Financial Capability Specialist, HDRI
Evaluation development Jenna Klink, Evaluation & Program Development Specialist
Pilot testers and reviewers
Carol Bralich, Associate Professor, HDRI Mary Johnson, Extension Educator, HDRI
Dr. Kristin Litzelman, Associate Professor, School of Human Ecology Jeanne Walsh, Extension Educator, HDRI
Chelsea Wunnicke, Extension Educator, HDRI | | | Keeping Personal Information Safe When Using the Planning AHEAD Workbook
| | | --- | --- | | Thank you for your participation in the Planning
AHEAD course. We suggest that when entering your information in the forms in the workbook you download the workbook onto your computer or tablet and type your information in the fillable fields. There are several advantages to typing your information rather than printing the workbook and hand-writing your answers:
1. The workbook is 82 pages and in color; printing it will use up a lot of your printer’s ink;
2. Some of the boxes on the forms may not allow you enough space to hand-write your responses; and
3. If you need to change your responses in the future it will be easier to delete and replace content on the electronic forms than it will be on paper forms.
Much of the information that you’ll be entering is personal, sensitive, and confidential and should only be shared with your personal representative or another highly trusted individual.
It is therefore imperative to keep the completed forms somewhere safe where they can’t be easily accessed. One way to do that is to save the computer file of the workbook on a flash drive and to keep that flash drive in a locked drawer or filing cabinet. Be sure that your personal representative knows the location of the key. You can purchase flash drives from electronics or computer stores. Be sure to buy one that has the correct connection to your computer or tablet. Keeping this file on a device separate from your computer means that your information will be protected in the unlikely event that your computer is ever hacked. You may want to keep a backup copy of the file on a second flash drive as an extra precaution. | While this is a recommendation, it is ultimately up to you to decide if you want to put your personal information in an electronic format. It is your responsibility to make sure your information is secure.
Thank you for taking these steps to communicate your wishes to your loved ones and to collect your financial and health information in a way that will make things easier for your personal representative upon your passing.

Steps to keep the information entered in this workbook secure
• Only share this information with your personal representative or other trusted individual.
• Save the workbook file on a flash drive.
• Keep the flash drive in a locked drawer or file cabinet.
• Only tell your personal representative or other trusted ind

FAQs

Why does the workbook recommend typing information into fillable fields instead of printing and handwriting?

Typing can reduce printer ink usage, avoids space limitations in handwritten boxes, and makes future updates easier through electronic editing rather than replacing paper forms.

Who should receive the completed sensitive information entered in the workbook?

The information should be shared only with a personal representative or another highly trusted individual.

What steps help keep the completed workbook information secure?

Save the workbook file on a flash drive, store the drive in a locked drawer or file cabinet, share the key location only with the personal representative, and keep a backup on a second flash drive in a locked location.

Sep 12, 2026

Upload by Blaney