Recovery Times

How long does it take to recover from a crash? It depends on severity and on what you do during the fall. Recovery times for the S&P 500 (peak to full recovery):

• 1987 crash (-34%): Recovered in 2 years
• Dot-com bust (-49%): Recovered in 7 years
• 2008 crisis (-57%): Recovered in 5.5 years
• COVID crash (-34%): Recovered in ~6 months

These timelines assume you stayed invested. Investors who sold during the panic locked in losses and missed the rebound — and the best market days almost always follow the worst ones. Miss just the 10 best days over 20 years and your total returns are cut roughly in half.