Be Taylor Swift

 

Every woman and girl wants to be Taylor Swift.  Every man and boy wants to marry her.

Okay, a bit of an exaggeration there, but you know what I mean.  She is an iconic cultural figure who is talented, beautiful, and rich.  It is said that “as Taylor Swift goes, so goes the music industry.”  She has that much influence and popularity.  Ticket demand for her current tour is double that of the top five tours of last year, plus the Super Bowl…..combined.

She is also devoted to her fans, the “Swifties”, as evidenced by her feud with Live Nation/Ticketmaster over the crash of its overwhelmed online system when tickets went on sale for her Eras Tour a few weeks ago.  It was enough to prompt Congress to investigate.  Yes, Miss Swift has some influence in town.

But she is no stranger to taking on corporate giants.  She’s done the same with Spotify and with Apple Music.  And she opted out of “dynamic pricing” for her tour’s tickets.  (In case you’re not familiar with the term, imagine that Kroger advertises strawberries for $1.99 Wednesday morning, but when demand soars and they start flying off the shelf, they raise the price Wednesday afternoon to $3.99.  That is dynamic pricing.)

But I write here not about her talent, beauty, wealth, or devotion to her fans.  I admire her financial savvy.  You may recall that I posted a few weeks ago about some celebrities that endorsed the now-bankrupt—but still being criminally investigated—FTX after falling for its smooth-talking president, Sam Bankman-Fried.  (Read it here.)  Now those celebrities are named in a $5 billion lawsuit for endorsing an unregistered security and misleading potential clients.

The Financial Times reported that Taylor Swift was also approached by FTX about a $100 million sponsorship deal for her tour.  And why wouldn’t she jump at it?  Big bucks, the trendiest investment scheme going at the time, and joining the ranks of other famous people lined up to sing FTX’s praises must have seemed like a smart PR move.

But according to sources, Taylor Swift asked one question: “Can you tell me that these are not unregistered securities?”  When she learned they were not, she declined the offer.

Smart young woman.  She is a model for all of us.  We should all ask some simple but important questions when contemplating investing our hard-earned money.  According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) it is unlawful to offer or sell securities not registered with them or for which an exemption has not been granted.  Claims of unusually high returns with little risk, unlicensed investment “specialists”, and sketchy sales documents (poor English, misspellings, or even missing documents) should set off alarm bells in a potential investor’s head.

Around Valentine Day I wrote in my blog about a survey that showed men want their female partner to be financially literate.  (Read it here.)  Well no wonder all these men are chasing Taylor Swift!  I understand that her father is or was employed by JP Morgan Bank, so he might be advising her on financial matters.  But that would be all the more impressive: a star who actually listens to sound advice….from her dad. When I conduct my next seminar I think she’d make a great guest speaker.  I think I’ll invite her.  Can someone give me her cell phone number?

Until next time,

Roger

“Listening to good advice is worth much more than jewelry made of gold.” Proverbs 25:12 CEV