Volatility is movement
Prices respond to changing expectations about companies, interest rates and the economy. Falls and rises can be sudden. Smooth lines here make the arithmetic easier to explore; real markets do not follow them.
Market Crash Simulator
What happens to your investments when markets fall?
Hypothetical examples, not forecasts. Investments can lose value; recovery is not guaranteed.
See the impact
- No crash · keep contributing
- Recovery scenario
- Slow recovery
- Prolonged decline / no recovery
Explore the timeline and compare all paths
Drag, or use the arrow keys, to compare values month by month.
See the breakdown
View annual balances as a table
| Year | Baseline | Recovery | Slow | Decline |
|---|
What can this teach us?
Time matters, without a promise
A longer horizon gives investments more time to weather short-term falls. It does not guarantee a profit. Money needed soon for bills, a deposit or retirement spending may not have time to recover.
Know your capacity for loss
Risk tolerance is how comfortable you feel with losses. Capacity for loss is whether your finances can absorb them. Neither is measured by this simulator. A contribution pause may be necessary when your circumstances change.
Spread risk, keep a safety net
Diversifying across investments can reduce reliance on any one holding, but cannot remove all risk. Accessible cash can be more suitable for emergencies and short-term spending than volatile investments.
Further reading: FCA: risk and returns and FCA: golden rules of investing
How the calculation works
- All amounts are GBP, in future nominal pounds. Inflation, tax, withdrawals, dealing charges and changes in contributions are excluded.
- Each month's multiplier is [(1 + annual return) × (1 − annual fee)] raised to 1/12, using rates as decimals. Fees are charged once through this multiplier, not subtracted a second time.
- Growth and fees apply first. The single fall happens at the end of the chosen year, before that month's contribution. Post-crash return assumptions begin the following month.
- A pause starts with the crash month's contribution and lasts for the selected number of months, or until the horizon ends. Money not invested is shown separately as skipped contributions; it is not included in portfolio values or assumed to earn interest.
- The no-crash baseline always continues contributions. The detail panel also compares continuing and pausing on the same crash path, so you can distinguish market effects from money not paid in.
- There is no fixed recovery date, historical dataset or probability assigned to these scenarios. An account balance rising due to new deposits does not mean the market has recovered. At a 100% fall, the existing balance is wiped out; later deposits are treated as new investments.
Educational illustration, not personal financial advice.