Drawdown recovery calculator
See the recovery target instantly. Enter a loss or two portfolio values and the page tells you what return is needed to get back to the peak.
No login, no portfolio required, no spreadsheet math.
Interactive tool
The calculator now leads the page so you can get the answer before reading the longer explanation.
LIVE READOUT
Need to recover
RETURN TO HIGH-WATER MARK
Current loss
-20%
Current loss
-20%
Back to peak
100
Gap to close
20
The calculator turns a vague loss into one concrete question: what gain is needed from here to repair the damage?
Losses and recoveries are not symmetric. A portfolio that falls 20% needs a 25% gain to recover because the rebound starts from a smaller base.
That is the value of this page. It makes the recovery burden obvious first, then connects that number to the broader drawdown and risk workflow below.
Interpretation
Recovery gets harder as the drawdown deepens because the base you are compounding from keeps shrinking.
The most valuable thing about drawdown recovery math is not the formula. It is the behavioral clarity. A small loss can usually be repaired without much stress. A large drawdown can change the entire timetable of the portfolio.
That is why investors who only track volatility can still be surprised by capital pain. The recovery burden makes downside visible in a way that percentage noise often does not.
Recovery asymmetry
A 50% loss does not call for a 50% recovery. It calls for a 100% recovery.
Once a portfolio is cut in half, it must double to get back to the original peak. That is the simplest reason to treat drawdown control as a core portfolio discipline.
The calculator is the fast entry point. Portfolio Terminal is the monitored workflow that follows.
A calculator is useful when you want a quick answer. Portfolio Terminal becomes useful when the question stops being hypothetical. If a portfolio has a real peak, a real decline, and a real investor tolerance behind it, the next step is to watch drawdown alongside Value at Risk, holdings concentration, and portfolio history.
That workflow starts with controlled broker import, then moves into the portfolio tracker, drawdown monitoring, and risk review. The goal is not just to explain the math of recovery. The goal is to help you avoid needing extreme recovery in the first place.
Common questions about drawdown recovery, portfolio losses, and how the calculator fits the wider workflow.
It shows how much percentage gain is required to recover after a portfolio loss. Because recovery starts from a smaller base, the required gain is always larger than the drawdown itself once the loss is greater than zero.
After a 50% loss, only half of the original capital is left. To get from that smaller base back to the old peak, the portfolio has to double, which equals a 100% gain.
No. The calculator is public and works with manual inputs. An account only becomes useful if you want Portfolio Terminal to track drawdown and risk automatically over time.
No. Recovery math is most useful when paired with drawdown monitoring, Value at Risk, and portfolio concentration review so the loss is understood inside the broader portfolio context.