Tools
Drawdown recovery calculator
A 50% loss needs a 100% gain to break even. Enter your drawdown and see the real size of the climb back — and how long it takes at a return you could actually sustain.
Set it to see the dollar figures alongside the percentages.
Capped at 10% — sustained returns above this are not a planning assumption.
Gain needed to break even
33.3%
- Months to recover at 3.0%/mo
- 10
Losses and gains are not symmetric — the deeper the hole, the disproportionately harder the climb.
›How this is calculated
requiredGainPct = dd / (100 - dd) x 100
monthsToRecover = ceil( ln(1 / (1 - dd/100)) / ln(1 + r/100) )
peak = balance / (1 - dd/100); dollarsLost = peak - balance
The entered balance is treated as your current balance, after the drawdown.
Educational, not advice. Projection at an assumed return — not a promise. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
The asymmetry
Why recovery is harder than the loss
Break-even gains grow far faster than the losses that require them.
| Loss from peak | Gain needed to break even | Months at 3%/mo |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 11.1% | 4 |
| 20% | 25% | 8 |
| 30% | 42.9% | 13 |
| 50% | 100% | 24 |
| 70% | 233.3% | 41 |
| 90% | 900%9x | 78 |
This is why we cap risk per trade — not why we promise recovery.