Why does a 50% drop need a 100% gain to recover?

Because the percentage is measured from a smaller base. After falling to 50, regaining the missing 50 is a 100% gain on the smaller amount. Deeper drops need disproportionately bigger comebacks.

Does this mean the fund has to rise that much?

Only if it just sits there. Dividends reinvested and further contributions change the real path. The calculator isolates the pure price math of getting back to the old high.

Is this a forecast of recovery?

No. It shows the arithmetic required to break even after a given fall; whether and when a fund recovers depends on the future, which nobody can predict.

Drawdown recovery calculator

SeeFund · educational series · plain math, no forecasts

Percentages are measured from whatever you currently have. After your money falls by half, the missing half is a full 100% gain on what’s left. The deeper the drop, the more brutal the comeback needed. Drag the slider to feel it.

How much it fell (%): 50%

What “needed” means: the percentage rise from the bottom needed just to get back to the old high — assuming no dividends and no new money in between (see the caveats below).

Drop −10% → needs+11.1%

Drop −20% → needs+25.0%

Drop −33% → needs+50.0%

Drop −50% → needs+100%

Drop −75% → needs+300%

Why it’s not symmetrical

If you lose 20% you don’t need 20% back — you need 25%, because after the loss your base is smaller. This asymmetry is why avoiding deep falls matters as much as chasing gains, and why a fund’s worst drawdown is one of the first numbers worth looking at.

What the real world adds

Dividends reinvested keep buying at the lower prices, which helps recovery along.
New contributions during the dip change the picture too.
The calculator isolates the pure “get back to the old high” price math — the worst year a fund actually lived through is on every fund in SeeFund, measured peak to trough to recovery.

FAQ

Why does a 50% drop need a 100% gain?

Because percentages are measured from the smaller base after the loss. Regaining the missing half is a full 100% on what remains.

Does the fund have to rise exactly that much?

Only if it sits still. Dividends reinvested and added money change the real path — this is the pure price math of returning to the old high.

Is this a forecast?

No — it shows the arithmetic required to break even; whether and when a fund recovers is the future, which can’t be predicted.

See a fund’s deepest drops and recovery days on real history: open SeeFund.

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