Risk
Drawdown Recovery Calculator
See the percentage gain needed to recover from any drawdown, plus how many months recovery takes at a steady return, with a quick reference table.
| Drawdown | Gain to recover |
|---|---|
| 5% | 5.3% |
| 10% | 11.1% |
| 15% | 17.6% |
| 20% | 25.0% |
| 25% | 33.3% |
| 30% | 42.9% |
| 40% | 66.7% |
| 50% | 100.0% |
| 60% | 150.0% |
| 75% | 300.0% |
| 90% | 900.0% |
Why losses and gains are not symmetric
A 50% loss halves the account, and getting back to the start then requires doubling what is left. The required gain grows faster than the loss because each percentage is taken from a smaller base.
gain to recover = drawdown ÷ (1 − drawdown)
Small drawdowns barely show the effect: 10% down needs 11.1% to recover. Past about 30% it becomes the main thing that decides whether an account survives, which is why most risk frameworks set a hard drawdown limit well before that point.
Time to recover
If you enter an expected monthly return, the calculator solves for the number of months it would take at that steady compounded rate. Returns are never steady, so treat the figure as an optimistic floor: a 25% drawdown at 2% a month takes about 14.5 months, assuming no further losing months along the way.
Using drawdown in practice
- Set a maximum drawdown before trading, and decide in advance what happens when it is reached.
- Prop-firm challenges often enforce daily and total loss limits; size so an ordinary losing streak stays inside them.
- Compare a backtest's worst drawdown with what you could live through emotionally, not just financially.
Questions
How much do I need to gain after a 20% loss?
25%. The account is at 80% of its peak, and 80 × 1.25 = 100.
What is maximum drawdown?
The largest fall from a peak in equity to a later low, before a new peak is reached. It is usually quoted as a percentage of the peak.