How much should a financial product explain before asking users to act?

Hey everyone,

I’ve been thinking about a product tension while building MyDebtLens.

When someone is using a debt payoff tool, they may not only want the “best” route mathematically.

They may also want to understand why the route looks better, what tradeoffs it creates, and whether it changes their monthly pressure in a way they can actually live with.

That creates an interesting UX question:

How much explanation should the product show before the user feels overwhelmed?

Too little explanation, and the app can feel like a black box.

Too much explanation, and the user may feel like they are reading a financial article instead of making progress.

For MyDebtLens, we’ve been trying to keep the explanation layer practical:

What changed?
Why did it change?
What tradeoff should the user notice?
What should they review before choosing a path?

We are avoiding language that sounds like the app is making a decision for the user. The goal is to make the payoff routes clearer, not to pressure someone into one route.

I’m curious how other builders think about this, especially in products where users are dealing with sensitive or high-stress decisions.

Do you prefer products that explain the reasoning step by step, or do you think too much explanation creates friction?