Drawdown Recovery Calculator
How much you have to make back after a loss, which is always more than you lost.
Gain needed to recover
25.00%
- Balance after the loss
- $20,000.00
- Amount to make back
- $5,000.00
- Back to
- $25,000.00
- Harder than the loss by
- 5.00 points
Most drawdowns begin with a read that was wrong.
See the AI readAlphaMind reads the market with its own models and explains what it sees. These calculators are the arithmetic around that. This page runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
The maths
Balance after = start x (1 - drawdown %) Recovery = drawdown % / (1 - drawdown %)
Losses and gains are not symmetric. Down 10% needs 11.1% back, down 50% needs 100%, and down 80% needs 400%. The curve turns vertical faster than most people expect.
Worked example
A 25,000 USD account down 20% sits at 20,000 USD, and needs 25% on that smaller balance to get back to where it started.
Why does a 20% loss need more than a 20% gain?
Because the gain is earned on a smaller balance. 20% of 20,000 is 4,000, and 5,000 is what it takes to get back to 25,000.
What drawdown is acceptable?
Prop firms usually draw the line between 5% and 10% daily and 10% to 12% overall. On a personal account the honest test is the one you can sit through without changing your rules.
How do I keep drawdown small?
Size each trade off the stop rather than off the balance, and cap the total risk across everything open at once. That part is arithmetic, not willpower.
