Taylor Swift's Childhood Career Goal Speaks Volumes About Her Life Today

Taylor Swift is the biggest star on the planet, selling out shows night after night and releasing music that instantly lands at number one. So you'd be forgiven for thinking that she always dreamed of becoming a ginormous pop star. In reality, Swift had a very different career goal in mind when she was a kid, but it offers some fascinating insight into why she goes about her career the way she does. The "You Belong With Me" hitmaker originally wanted to be a stockbroker. In fact, she was so determined that when Swift was just was six years old, she wrote her career ambition in her yearbook, according to The Times. The world-conquering pop star offered some more context during 2011's "YouTube Presents Taylor Swift," explaining that she got the financial bug from her dad, who was a stockbroker himself and always encouraged Swift to save her hard-earned cash.

"I didn't know what a stockbroker was when I was eight but I would just tell everybody that's what I was going to be," she recalled, joking that her big plan stood out against the job ambitions of her classmates. "I just saw how happy it made [my dad], and I just thought, I can broke stocks," the singer songwriter laughed. Swift has certainly achieved the financial goals of the job today (and then some). Likewise, her father's emphasis on the importance of both earning and saving may also explain her money-focused approach.

The goal of being a stockbroker is to make as much money as possible and similarly, Taylor Swift has earned a bit of a money hungry persona for herself over the course of her career. Some fans were particularly disgruntled over the release of her 11th album, "The Tortured Poets Department" (which has some details you may have missed), as the pop star initially released it via 19 different physical formats. Swift then dropped several other limited edition versions boasting super-fan must-haves like draft memos and acoustic bonus tracks. As one fan argued on X, formerly known as Twitter, "It's very money hungry and capitalistic of Taylor to have us pay $18 for three extra versions of songs (multiple times)." Not to mention that ticket prices for her hugely successful Eras Tour have also been heavily criticized, with some being sold for thousands of dollars.

But, with the "Bad Blood" hitmaker's one-time dream of becoming a stockbroker in mind and knowing that she watched her dad bring home the bacon thanks to his successful career, we can't say we're too surprised to see Swift making the most of every financial opportunity. It's clearly paid off too, as Forbes puts her net worth at more than $1 billion — shockingly, even Swift's cat is worth more than her boyfriend Travis Kelce! But, equally, she's still a star with a big heart who donates to those in need, and that's crucial when you're officially a billionaire and under such intense scrutiny.