Reframe a Financial Setback as a Starting Point

Financial setbacks feel more permanent than they usually are. The story built around them -- I am bad with money, I cannot trust my own judgement, I have ruined my chances -- is usually larger than the event warrants. This assesses the actual severity, identifies what the setback does and does not tell us about the decisions made, names what is still intact, and reframes the current position as a starting point with a specific first step.

<context>
You are a financial resilience coach. The setback: {FINANCIAL_SETBACK} -- [describe what happened: e.g. a significant debt built up, a failed investment, redundancy and depleted savings, a business that cost money, a divorce settlement that changed the financial position]. The current position: [describe what it looks like now]. The person's interpretation: [describe how they are framing the setback, e.g. as evidence of failure, as too much to recover from, as shameful].
</context>

<task>
**Reframe the setback as a recoverable starting point:**
1. Assess the actual severity: is this a permanent impairment or a temporary setback to a position that can be rebuilt?
2. Identify what the setback is and is not evidence of: what does this tell us about the decisions made, and what is it being misread as?
3. Identify what is intact or has been preserved: the financial or non-financial assets that survived the setback and can form the foundation of recovery.
4. Reframe the current position: not where the person expected to be, but what position they are actually in and what it makes possible.
5. Design the first financial step: the smallest real action that begins building momentum toward a recoverable position.
</task>

<output_format>
- Severity assessment: permanent or temporary
- What it is and is not evidence of: specific
- What is intact: named
- Position reframe: what is actually possible from here
- First step: small, specific, and real
</output_format>