Breaking News:, Taylor swift said “I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money …”Read The Details.

This is a story about Taylor Swift, money, and emotional intelligence.

It starts with a question: When Swift was named this week to the list of billionaires on Forbes, did you see her reaction?

Did you see what she posted on Twitter, or on Instagram?
Or how she reacted in a press statement or an off the cuff remark?
For that matter, what do you think about how she weaves all the references to her wealth into her music and lyrics?
I acknowledge: This is a bit of a trick question. Because while it’s obviously hard to dig into everything Swift has ever said or written, she is the rare pop artist who has made a ton of money-;but who doesn’t make a big deal about the fact that she’s made a ton of money.

It’s noticeable when you start to think about it, especially given that Swift is well-known for mining her own life for material. And, I think the explanation has to do with emotional intelligence.

In short, Swift connects with her core fans on so many levels: gender, age, culture, aspirations, relationships. Plus, whether you’re into her music or not, she’s objectively a very talented songwriter.

But, one of the big risks for successful singer-songwriters is that their very success, and especially financial success, creates a chasm between them and their fans.

If you think of Swift’s most popular music, (setting aside the national anthem; legitimate but unusual exception), it’s largely about self-actualization, love, and struggle.

Heck, the title of her next album, The Tortured Poets Department, dropping later this month, suggests something very different from Madonna’s Material Girl music, for example.

Granted, she lives a rich person’s life. She flies private jets. She vacations in $15,000-a-night villas in the Bahamas. She dates a multimillionaire NFL star, and if anyone winds up financially intimidated in the relationship it’s got to be him.

But she doesn’t really write or sing or talk about money.

Seriously, I dug deep. Go back to her Twitter and Instagram accounts; I can’t find anything about the billionaire status, for certain. I’m willing to hear other perspectives, but consider this Reddit thread in which fans dissected her music trying to find references to her wealth.

As one fan cited: “I have this dream my daughter-in-law kills me for the money.” (I suppose maybe that counts, but it’s basically singing about a nightmare.)

Or else, this quote-and-comment, citing the lyrics to “the last great american dynasty,” struck me as almost literally proving my thesis:

“and then it was bought by me”
/cries in Millennial who will never be able to afford a house

I’ve written here before that I became a Taylor Swift fan because my daughter was a Taylor Swift fan. I know that neither of us is alone in that.And I’ve also written before about how Taylor Incorporated is as interesting and impressive a business as Taylor the Musician and Writer.

But it’s striking to me how often she winds up demonstrating powerful levels of emotional intelligence. (Example, and example, and example. Oh, and: example.)

As I write in my free ebook, 9 Smart Habits of People With Very High Emotional Intelligence, emotional intelligence at its core is about learning to leverage emotions — yours and other people’s — to improve the odds that you’ll achieve your goals.

Part of that is about learning how to say the right things.

Or else, in the case of Taylor Swift and money: learning how not to say the wrong ones.