Member Story – Craig Taylor

Craig Taylor has been a teacher for 30+ years. He is currently a classroom teacher and has previously been a year 7-8 lead teacher and a team leader for the 7-9 cohort.

Being a teacher has given me the opportunity to shape the future of our rangatahi and I love that about my job. I also taught at a Middle school in the United States for two years, which added depth to my work. Furthermore, I have been a part of the NZ Territorial Army as an officer and went on operations in East Timor, Lebanon and Syria, eventually returning to my educational career. I always valued the leave available to me as a teacher, as that has helped me serve my country whenever there was a need.

One thing I have learned over the years is to never have all my eggs in one basket and have some diversity when it comes to my investments. Being a part of the Teachers Retirement Savings Scheme has served me well over the years and given me peace of mind. I would say that it has been a significant part of my financial strategy but not my entire strategy. I generally visit the website to get more information regarding the Scheme, I also like to read and be in conversation with people to understand the economic world. I have been through quite a lot of financial cycles and what I have learned is to consider the bigger picture and pay attention to the economic signals before taking any decision. Over the years, I have seen some of my savings go up and down which has concerned me a little however, all my goals are long-term which is why market volatility does not bother me. 

In my retired life, I look forward to spending reduced time in teaching, and having more time to catch up with my whanau as the pandemic was not an easy on us. We previously lived in Auckland, but later moved to New Plymouth and got a lifestyle block here. In my spare time, I enjoy gardening and doing things around the block as well as spending time with our dogs.