Drawdown recovery time
Recovery from a drawdown is a percent-of-trough question, not a percent-of-peak question. The table below is that identity; the widget runs the same personal-rule engine against a stated floor so you can see how a given edge and size interact with it.
The floor field is Max drawdown you allow. Recovery percent in the table is independent of the simulator — it is peak-to-trough arithmetic.
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If equity falls by D percent from a peak, the percent gain required to return to that peak is D ÷ (100 − D). A 10% fall is not a 10% climb back.
| Drawdown from peak | Gain from trough to return to peak |
|---|---|
| 5% | 5.26% |
| 10% | 11.11% |
| 15% | 17.65% |
| 20% | 25% |
| 25% | 33.33% |
| 30% | 42.86% |
How many trades that climb takes depends on expectancy per trade and on whether the floor is hit first. That second question is what the seeded widget counts; the table does not invent a time.
Where the widget and the table split
The table is an identity: it holds for any account, any market, any strategy. The widget is a simulation: it needs win rate, average R, risk per trade, and a floor. The free personal-rule engine currently models a stated Max Drawdown allowance as a fixed floor measured from your starting balance, not a floor that ratchets upward with a new equity peak.
Method: Research & methodology. Related: risk of ruin calculator.
FAQ
- Why is recovery percent larger than the drawdown percent?
- A fall of D percent leaves (100−D) percent of the peak. Returning to the peak means gaining D on that smaller base, which is D÷(100−D), always larger than D.
- Does this page say how many days recovery takes?
- No. Days would require a path. The table is percent arithmetic. The widget counts simulated sequences against a floor; it does not timestamp a market.
- Is this investment advice?
- No. The table is an identity. The widget is a model of user-supplied inputs. Neither instructs a trade.
Run it against your own numbers
The same engine, unlimited runs, at the same free accuracy as this page's calculator — open the full personal rule editor to save a rule set, add a profit goal or daily loss stop, or import a trade history.
Open the personal rule editor — free, full accuracy →Rules and outcomes vary by firm and by trader; nothing on this page is investment or trading advice, and PropSurvival is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any prop trading firm. This calculator models a stated rule set — it does not predict market outcomes.