Reframe the Financial Cost of a Transition You Are Considering

The financial cost of a transition is often cited as the reason not to make it, but the cited cost and the true cost are rarely the same number. The true cost includes opportunity costs, transition costs, and the cost of the current situation over time. This separates the actual financial risk from the financial fear, identifies what it would cost to stay, and names the financial buffer that would make the transition manageable, with one question to test whether the financial framing is actually about something else.

I am considering a major transition that has a financial cost: {TRANSITION_DESCRIPTION}. The financial impact: {FINANCIAL_IMPACT}. My current financial situation: {CURRENT_FINANCES}.

Help me reframe the financial cost:
1. The true cost versus the quoted cost: distinguish between the stated financial cost and the total actual cost including opportunity cost, transition costs, and the period before a new equilibrium is reached
2. The financial risk versus the financial fear: separate what is actually financially risky in this transition from what feels financially frightening but is manageable given my situation
3. The cost of not transitioning: what staying in the current situation is likely to cost financially over [three years], including opportunity costs
4. The minimum viable financial safety net: the specific financial buffer that would make this transition feel manageable rather than reckless, and a realistic assessment of how long it would take to build it
5. The honest question: the financial question that most clearly determines whether this transition is genuinely unaffordable or whether the financial framing is being used to avoid a decision that is actually about something else