How should this change how I trade?

It’s the math behind “defense first.” Keeping drawdowns shallow — through position sizing, stop losses, and risking only 1–2% per trade — keeps recovery targets realistic. A trader who avoids 40%+ holes never needs the 67%+ comeback to fill them.

Does this apply to accounts with leverage?

Even more so. Leverage accelerates both directions, so a leveraged account can reach deep drawdowns quickly — and the required recovery grows non-linearly while your remaining capital (and margin room) shrinks. The math is the same; the speed at which it bites is not.

Free calculator

Drawdown Recovery Calculator

Losses and gains aren’t symmetric — see exactly what it takes to climb back from any drawdown.

A 50% loss doesn't need a 50% gain. It needs 100%.

Every drawdown must be recovered from a smaller base, so the required gain grows faster than the loss. This calculator shows the real cost of every drawdown — the single best argument for cutting losses early.

How it works.

Enter your drawdown — how far your account is below its peak.

See the exact percentage gain required to get back to breakeven.

Check the reference table to see how fast the curve steepens.

Size positions so a losing streak stays in recoverable territory.

Portfolio drawdown

How far your account has fallen from its peak.

Required gain to break even

+25.0%

A 20.0% loss doesn’t need a 20.0% gain — it needs 25.0% from the smaller base.

DrawdownGain to recover

−5%+5.26%

−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%

Frequent questions.

Because after a loss you’re compounding from a smaller base. Drop from $10,000 to $5,000 and you’ve lost 50% — but getting back to $10,000 means doubling the $5,000 you have left, a 100% gain. The deeper the drawdown, the more brutal this asymmetry gets.