Peter Tuchman knows a thing or two about Wall Street. The silver-haired floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange has spent 40 years navigating market crashes, bull runs, and everything in between, earning him the nickname “Einstein of Wall Street” and the distinction of being the most photographed trader on Wall Street. Now, he’s sharing his advice for the new generation: Stop buying things that lose value the moment you purchase them, and start investing in the companies that make them.

“One of the most important things is to invest in stocks and not stuff,” Tuchman said in a video posted by The School of Hard Knocks, a TikTok channel with more than 5 million followers. “Pretty much most things we buy goes down in value the minute you buy it.”

Tuchman, who says he trades between half a billion and a billion dollars of stock daily, says young people are the “greatest consumer generation in the world,” pouring money into products that depreciate immediately rather than assets that appreciate over time. His solution? Turn that knowledge into investment strategy.

“Go back to high school, walk down the corridor and look at what sneakers everyone’s wearing, what phones they use, what computers they’re on, what they do in their spare time, and what social media they’re on,” Tuchman advised. “Buy a little bit of each one of those companies.”

This approach echoes legendary investor Peter Lynch’s philosophy of buying what you know, but tailored for today’s digital-native generation. Rather than simply purchasing the latest iPhone or sneakers, Tuchman suggests young people invest in Apple, Nike, or whichever companies produce the products they’re already buying.

Tuchman also highlighted the power of passive investing through index funds.

“There’s a number out there that says at the age of 18, if you put $250 a month into the S&P 500, which is a basket of 500 stocks, at the age of 60, you’ll have more than $1 million,” he said in the video.

The math checks out. According to historical data, the S&P 500 has delivered an average annual return of about 10% since its inception, with more recent 30-year averages hovering around 10.3%. Financial projections suggest investing $250 each month starting when you’re 18 years old could indeed grow to over $1 million by age 60 through compound interest, assuming historical market returns continue.

The concept of compound interest—earning returns on your returns—lies at the heart of Tuchman’s advice. “It’s letting your money work for you,” he said.

Peter Tuchman’s success story

Tuchman started as a teletypist on the NYSE floor on May 23, 1985, working his way up to become a broker by 1988. He weathered Black Monday in 1987, as well as the dot-com bubble burst, the 2008 financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, which nearly killed him in 2020 and left him with lingering health complications.

“I almost died of COVID,” Tuchman said in the TikTok. “I was given three months to live.”

Tuchman has also experienced his own share of personal tragedy. His wife, documentary filmmaker Lise Zumwalt Tuchman, died of cancer in August 2023. His brother Jeffrey, also a documentary filmmaker, died of cancer in 2017. Despite these losses, Tuchman continues trading and educating young investors, driven by a philosophy forged through adversity.

“I love what I do,” Tuchman told The School of Hard Knocks. “I don’t need to post a bunch of pictures of me on the back of a Bugatti with stacks of $10,000. But if I can share what I found, I don’t want to be on the mountaintop all by myself.”

His final piece of advice? “Find something you love to do, get really good at it, and embrace the younger generation.”

You can watch the full video featuring Tuchman below:

@theschoolofhardknocks The real WOLF OF WALL STREET 🤯 i interviewed @Einstein of Wall Street the longest standing trader and stockbroker in the history of the New York Stock Exchange and I asked him how he got RICH! I asked him the best financial advice he’d instill in the everyone around the world. He told me how to know what companies to invest in and how to make your money work for you. Lastly, I asked him his best advice to the younger generation. #wealth #entrepreneur #financialfreedom #motivation ♬ original sound – The School of Hard Knocks

​Peter Tuchman’s success story

Peter Tuchman’s success story

‘The Einstein of Wall Street’ says the best way to get rich is to ‘invest in stocks, not stuff’