Capture Gains at an All-Time High

Capture Gains at an All-Time High
 
The S&P 500 just hit another all-time high on Friday, August 22, 2025, after Jerome Powell‘s Jackson Hole speech. While he didn’t explicitly say the FOMC would cut rates at the Sept. 17, 2025 meeting, he indicated that was on the table. Powell said, “With policy in restrictive territory, the baseline outlook and the shifting balance of risks may warrant adjusting our policy stance.”
 
Investors partied like it was 1999, pushing the S&P500 to a new high of 6,481.34. 1999 is an appropriate time to hail back to. As you can see in the chart below, the only time over the past century when stocks have been more expensive than they are today (by the CAPE ratio), was in 1999 before the Dot Com Recession (when the NASDAQ Composite Index plunged 78% before hitting rock bottom). Prices are higher today than they were in the Great Depression (1929). 
 

Source: Prof. Robert Shiller, Yale.edu. Nobel Prize winning economist.

We’ve seen swift plunges over the past 5 years that rapidly recovered. However, 21st Century history teaches us that we can’t always print up $5+ trillion to borrow our way out of a downturn. In a note on LinkedIn on August 25, 2025, Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, warned:

"Based on my assessment of various data, states making up nearly a third of U.S. GDP are either in or at high risk of recession, another third are just holding steady, and the remaining third are growing. States experiencing recessions are spread across the country, but the broader DC area stands out due to government job cuts. Southern states are generally the strongest, but their growth is slowing. California and New York, which together account for over a fifth of U.S. GDP, are holding their own, and their stability is crucial for the national economy to avoid a downturn."
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So, should we be thinking about capturing gains at an all-time high?
 
Here are the things that I’ll cover in this blog.


Rebalance, Not Market Timing
Age-Appropriate and Properly Diversified, Not Buy & Hope
Safe 4% Income Without Paper Losses
Hot Industries and Countries
Are You Paying to Underperform (or Lose Money)?
 
And here is more information on each topic.
 
Rebalance, Not Market Timing
Capturing gains at an all-time high does not mean selling everything and moving into cash. Rather, take a look at what we’ve got and make sure that we’re keeping at least a percentage equal to our age safe, and that the at-risk side of our plan is properly diversified. (I’ll talk about the safe side below, too.) We can get a little fancier than that, as we do in our retreats, and lean into the areas that are super performers and underweight the areas that are problematic and not keeping up with Wall Street.
 
Many managed plans are not well-diversified. If we don’t know what we’ve selected for our retirement plan, then now is the time to know. It’s human nature to wait until things are broken and then try to fix them. When it comes to our money that is not a great idea. It took the NASDAQ 15 years to crawl back to the highs of 2000. Buy & Hope was a true disaster in both the Dot Com and the Great Recessions.
 
Market timing rarely works. Trying to jump all in or jump all out is more likely to cost us an arm and a leg than it is to shoot the moon. Our simple pie chart strategy helps us to capture gains when stocks are high, protect ourselves from downturns, and keeps our money safe and liquid, so we can take advantage of buying opportunities when prices drop. It’s important to remember that most people don’t buy low because they can’t. When we lose too much money, we’ve got all kinds of problems, a terrible FICO score, and no extra cash on hand to plug the leaks in our life boat.
 
Age-Appropriate and Properly Diversified, Not Buy & Hope
I’ve described what I mean by age-appropriate above. Let’s dive deeper into diversification. Some people think if they have 18 pages of whole things or somebody else’s managing their plan for them, that they are properly diversified. I do a great deal of unbiased 2nd opinions on managed plans, and I have yet to see one that was age-appropriate and properly diversified. Pages of holdings might be the same size and style over and over again. 10 funds that are diversified by size and style, and include hot sectors, helps us to outperform and ensures that we’ve got the companies that are driving the performance, such as the Magnificent 7.
 
Which hot sectors are we leaning into today? We have a number of countries and sectors that we’re interested in, many of which have performed very well over the past few years. Email [email protected] to receive links to our blogs on cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, AI, gold/silver, Australia, Indonesia, Ireland and Peru.
 
If you’re adding something hot and it is trading at an all-time high, it’s important to dollar cost average. By the time everybody thinks it’s hot, the asset is often overpriced (like real estate). When we wait for the headlines, we’re almost always late. When no one wants something, like clean energy funds today, that could be the best buying opportunity. What sector will be important and on fire in 2026 and 2027?
 
Safe 4% Income Without Paper Losses
What I’m also discovering in my second opinions is that there are a lot of conservative investors who are being told they’re making 5-7% income, without being told that once you factor in fees and commissions, the return might be 2% or lower. If you’re experiencing paper losses, which many people are, you might even be losing money. That’s not income.
 
I’m very proud to say that the people who have been sticking to our safe strategies over the past decade have good reasons to be very happy. When interest rates were at zero, we pointed out that real estate was a great opportunity. Many people doubled their money. Now that we can earn almost 4% yield without taking on risk, retreat attendees and my private coaching clients are getting that true yield without paper losses, and many times without fees or commissions. (Of course, that is why the broker salesman is not going to be incentivized to sell these products, and why some of the risky assets with paper losses, surrender fees and other potential money pits are sold – for the high commissions that they offer or because the brokerage has a symbiotic relationship with an investment bank.)

​Are you aware that annuities are one of the few investments where we lose up to 9% the minute we purchase it? (They call it a surrender fee.) Meanwhile, the broker salesman might be earning a 6% commission on the sale.
 
Hot Industries and Countries
Let’s dive deeper into hot sectors and countries. Some of the countries we featured include Australia, Peru, Ireland, and Indonesia. Most of those are trading close to all-time highs, with the exception of Indonesia. As I mentioned in my mid-year report blog, Peru was one of the great performers so far this year, with gains of 25.6%.

With regard to sectors, we’ve been leaning into the Magnificent 7 since the Great Recession. Silver has also been the top performer in 2025. Bitcoin was our 2024 Investment of the Year. Breakthrough technology, cyber security, medical devices: these are all super performers on Wall Street that we featured as hot potential hot sectors in our Financial Freedom Retreats. Email [email protected] for links to the blogs. Again, if something is trading at an all-time high, you want a dollar cost average into it, with an age-appropriate, pie chart plan as your blueprint.
 
Are You Paying to Underperform (or Lose Money)?
Are you paying thousands or even tens of thousands annually to underperform or experience paper losses? If you’re not really reading the fine print and adding things up (which tend to be on a few different pages), you might not know that you’re paying through the nose, not earning the income that you’re being told you’re earning, have losses that are more problematic than the term “paper” implies and underperforming the market. This is likely to be the case if you are a conservative investor. 4% income is not enough to offset major loss of principle, especially when that percentage is often dramatically reduced by fees and expenses.
 
Bottom Line
A lot of people think, “My personal advisor is doing great.” This is because we’ve had a market on fire for the past two and a half years. It is no guarantee that our plan is sound. Never confuse a bull market with wisdom.
 
It’s time to be the boss of our money and make sure we know exactly what we own and why. Email [email protected] if you would like a link to our free web app where you can personalize your own sample pie chart. You’ll also need to know the basics of investing so that you can compare what you should have to what you do have.

You can start learning by reading The ABCs of Money, 6th edition. If you would like to learn and implement these strategies right away, join us for our online October 11-13, 2025, Financial Freedom Retreat. For people looking for income, we will be hosting a Fixed Income Without Paper Losses Masterclass on Saturday, October 18, 2025. These classes are all online, so there is no travel or lodging costs. We offer a bundling discount for taking both online courses.



Email [email protected] to receive links to our free web apps where you can personalize your own sample nest egg pie chart. Let us know if you’re interested in private coaching, an unbiased 2nd opinion or in joining me online for our Oct. 11-13, 2025 Financial Freedom Retreat.
 
​Register now to join us at our online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025 where you'll learn how to protect your wealth, save thousands annually in your budget and how to hedge in a volatile Debt World. If you'd like a life-changing adventure of a lifetime, be our guest at a royal manor house in Cornwall, England, March 12-19, 2027. (With just eight rooms available, this exclusive, private, bucket-list adventure sells out a year in advance!) Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] to learn more. The 2025 Restormel Retreat was a magical and royal experience. Click to learn more. 

Receive the best price when you register with friends and family for the online Financial Freedom Retreat Oct. 11-13 2025. Request testimonials at [email protected]. You can also view some on the flyer page of the retreat. 

Learn how to:

* Invest in hot industries, such as cryptocurrency, Nvidia, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing,
* Hedge against a weaker dollar,
* Invest and compound your gains,
* Green your retirement plan,
* Easy and efficacious nest egg strategies,
* Get hot and diversified (including in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and crypto),
* Evaluate stocks,
* Avoid capital gains and financial predators,
* Keep an age-appropriate amount safe, and,
* Know what's safe in a Debt World.

You'll even discover how to save thousands annually with smarter big-ticket choices. Yes, it's a complete money makeover. 
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Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. ​

"Ten minutes into the first day I was already much smarter about investing than I ever thought I would be in my life and I knew I was in exactly the right place at this retreat. I am amazed at how EASY and FUN it is to make my money work for me and those I love. I think this kind of information should be compulsory in schools. I wish I'd learned this sooner." CM

If you’d like an unbiased 2nd opinion on your current wealth plan, email [email protected] for pricing and information.
 
​

Receive the best price when you register with friends and family. Visit NataliePace.com to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register.

Join us for our Restormel Royal Immersive Adventure Retreat. March 2027. Email [email protected] to learn more. Click for testimonials, pricing, hours & details. Register now to receive the best price, the best room and eight private, prosperity coaching sessions. There are only 8 rooms available. This retreat includes an all-access pass to all of our online training for a full year for two. Considering the perks, you're receiving a 65% discount to learn the life math that we all should have received in high school, and the room is free! Email [email protected] to learn more. The best rooms at the 2025 retreat were sold out in 2024! Yes, it's a great idea to register and start transforming our lives now!

Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability, Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. 
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Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden.​​

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Important Disclaimers
Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations.

ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy.  
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Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.