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How much you need to recover a loss

Why big losses are harder to recover than they look.

The formulaGain needed = loss ÷ (1 − loss)

Examples

20% loss0.20 ÷ 0.80 = 25%
40% loss0.40 ÷ 0.60 = 66.7%
50% loss0.50 ÷ 0.50 = 100%

In money:

Loss1,000 → 500 = −50%
Recovery500 → 1,000 = +100%

That's why diversification and avoiding concentration matter: limiting big losses beats chasing big gains.

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