The True Cost of Transactions: What Leaders Transfer Beyond the Price

At the executive level, transactions are often evaluated by what can be quantified—price, return, efficiency, speed. Yet the most consequential costs of transactions are rarely visible on balance sheets. They live in time, talent, methods, and values—and these are the very elements leaders pass on to the next generation of organizations, communities, and markets.

When individuals and institutions become accustomed to acquiring assets primarily through debt, they often fail to account for the long-term cost of maintaining those assets—or the practices used to obtain them. Even more critically, they pass on not only the asset and its associated obligations, but also the method of acquisition, embedding habits of dependency, risk transfer, and short-term thinking into future systems.

What Does a Transaction Really Cost?

At its core, a transaction is the transfer of value. But value transfer is never free.

The cost of a completed transaction can include:

• Time Costs

  Reviewing assets, analyzing expense sheets, validating assumptions, and aligning stakeholders often requires weeks—or months—of executive and operational labor.

  
  

• Cognitive and Strategic Costs

  Concepting a deal, preparing presentations, negotiating terms, and aligning incentives draw heavily on leadership bandwidth.

  
  

• Risk and Security Costs

  Underwriting, compliance, insurance, and risk transfer mechanisms are embedded costs that grow as assets increase in value.

  
  

• Maintenance and Protection Costs

  Systems must be secured, audited, updated, and protected to preserve accuracy and integrity—costs that persist long after the transaction closes.

  
  

• Continuity Costs

  If the values, rationale, and methods behind a transaction are not transferred to the next steward—whether a successor, team, or community—the perceived value of the asset can rapidly diminish.

In financial economics, these are broadly referred to as transaction costs—a concept formalized by Ronald Coase, who demonstrated that markets are shaped not only by prices, but by the cost of using the market itself (Coase, 1937).

People Are the True Carriers of Value

Systems do not create value on their own. People do.

When individuals do not understand the value of their time, talents, or decision-making power, systems that depend on human participation are misused or underutilized. Fear, rigid tradition, or overreliance on debt-based solutions can cause stagnation—even in systems designed to create progress.

Behavioral economics consistently shows that individuals who lack visibility into their spending and decision patterns are more prone to overspending, impulse decisions, and long-term financial instability (Thaler & Sunstein, Nudge). Entire industries have been built to normalize these habits, maintaining consumption without necessarily preserving or increasing long-term value.

Conversely, when institutions intentionally link financial capacity with values-based planning, they not only sustain their own growth but reinforce healthier economic behaviors across the groups they serve (OECD, World Bank).

What Values Are We Transferring Forward?

Long-term planning is not only about outcomes—it is about inheritance of practice.

When expenses, debts, and financial habits are transferred across generations or organizations without context, strategy, or education, the intended benefits may never reach fruition. The question leaders must ask is not simply “What are we funding?” but “What practices are we normalizing?”

This is why proposals, presentations, and community-based planning spaces matter. They create opportunities to surface assumptions, challenge habits, and collectively rethink how value is acquired and maintained.

Why Grants Change the Equation

Grants are often misunderstood as “free money.” In reality, they are structured agreements around values, outcomes, and accountability.

Grants:

• Reduce reliance on debt for asset acquisition

• Require clarity of purpose, metrics, and stewardship

• Transfer not only resources, but methods of evaluation and sustainability

• Encourage long-term planning rather than reactive spending

Planning with grants increases awareness of available resources and positions organizations to respond to growth opportunities with intention. It also reduces vulnerability to predatory practices and poorly aligned financial decisions.

If an individual or organization relies solely on debt to meet essential needs—housing, food, health, education, mobility, or business capacity—it may signal that alternative pathways were not fully explored. Grants provide time, accountability, and alignment—elements debt rarely offers.

At Work With Grants: Advancing Value-Driven Transactions

At Work With Grants, our mission is to increase the flow of grants into communities by changing how people understand transactions, value, and planning. Grants are not just mechanisms for acquiring assets—they are tools for revealing strategy, strengthening stewardship, and sustaining impact.

As we move into Open Grants Season 2026, we are focused on helping community members, organizations, and leadership teams:

• Develop fundable projects rooted in long-term value

• Build management habits that sustain impact

• Align mission, market needs, and funding strategies

  • Transfer not just assets—but wisdom, methods, and accountability

Join the Movement

Join the Work With Grants Community—free—and actively apply new methods for advancing the projects and values you aim to achieve.

• Access newly released grant opportunities for 2026

• Join the Weekly Public Strategy Call every Tuesday at 10 AM EST

• Learn how to activate grants throughout Quarter 1 of 2026

• Schedule time to customize a grant-ready program for your group or organization

The future of value is not just what we acquire—but how we acquire it, maintain it, and pass it on.

Research More on the Selected Sources

• Coase, R. (1937). The Nature of the Firm. Economica.

• World Bank. Transaction Costs in Financial and Economic Systems.

• OECD. Financial Education and Financial Consumer Protection.

• Thaler, R., & Sunstein, C. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.

CFPB. Financial Well-Being and Behavioral Decision-Making.