So the teen-aged Taylor bought shares in The Warehouse.
"I could go onto the store and see it was doing really well and opening lots of new branches, so I thought this could be a good business to buy."
Common sense "goes a long way".
He founded Pie Funds in 2007, an Auckland-based fund management company that will soon have its Hawke's Bay office in The Village Exchange development under construction in Havelock North.
Pie Funds' establishment followed five years of investing on behalf of friends and family, who accepted an invitation to join "so I started with a few clients and $3million".
In Pie's best-performing growth fund a $100,000 investment made in 2007 would now be worth $498,639, according to Pie's website.
Success continues in the same manner it started, plenty of research and following proven principles, including those of the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway. He has built his investment firm to an asset value of more than $800 billion, making shareholders rich thanks to an average rate of return of 20 per cent a year for 49 years.
Because he is happy to share his investment principles he draws tens of thousands to his hometown of Omaha, Missouri, for the Berkshire annual general meeting.
Pie Funds staff regularly make the trek.
"It is really enjoyable. It's kind of like the Woodstock for capitalists; going to a place where everyone else there is into the same thing as you. There are a lot people to network with, share ideas about finance and hear from the world's greatest investor, ever."
Taylor spends three days a week in the Auckland office and said he would love to move it to Hawke's Bay.
"A lot of my staff haven't even been to Hawke's Bay but we are hoping to entice them down here, otherwise we will hire locally. But we will still maintain our headquarters in Auckland."
Wife Jacqueline was a teacher and said she was still an educator as publisher/editor of quarterly investment magazine Juno.
She originally saw investing as an inaccessible industry "full of men in suits and ivory towers and the like".
"Over the years I found it wasn't so intimidating after all and Juno is all about investor education; equipping and supporting our readers so they can make financial decisions by giving them information they need to make investments.
"People need this kind of education. It is weighted toward share market investment but it covers a lot of investment categories such as property, personal business/enterprise. There is always a Kiwi Saver component to every issue. It is definitely diverse."
She has been named a finalist this year in the Rising Star category of the Magazine Publishers Associations awards.
A reader survey confirms the highest group are high net-worth individuals followed by people with annual incomes of $50,000 to $99,000.
"So it is really people who both have the money and want to invest and people that want that knowledge. I think New Zealanders are very focused on property and, with the history of sharemarket crashes and the like, it is a lot more difficult for them trust the sharemarket.
Many were "hugely overexposed to property" and younger investors were targeted "who can't actually get into the property market now".
KiwiSaver had opened an awareness of sharemarket investing and she said she hoped recent publicity about KiwiSaver funds investing in the arms industry would be a wake-up call.
"You really need to know what you are doing with your money rather than handing it over to the bank and thinking they will look after it. "You actually have to take control of your investments and know where you are putting your money.
"People can make those sorts of decisions on their own and I am trying to show the importance of also seeking advice through a financial adviser."
The couple live on a lifestyle block with their two children a few minutes' drive from Havelock North.
Taylor said the recent move to Hawke's Bay followed extensive research.
"We were looking for a bit of land and got on Trade Me and did a search of all the properties in New Zealand for the type of property we wanted.
"A lot of them came up in the Hawke's Bay. A lot of other areas could be ruled out because they weren't close to an airport or were just too far away to get back to Auckland.
"With Napier having 10 flights a day it's an easy commute and it is driveable if you have to." Canterbury is not.
"The biggest part of my commute is Auckland airport to the North Shore, which takes longer than the flight."
The pair found success in their property search through Bayleys Real Estate.
"We really like the outdoors and horses and we already have some down here.
"We are really happy with the move. The pace of life is not slow here, I wouldn't say that at all, but it doesn't have the rush that a city has."
Before making the move they had visited Hawkes Bay just once. But having both lived overseas they aren't afraid of new frontiers.
"My attitude to life is you have to try something and if it doesn't work you do something else," Taylor said.
