Michelle Singletary's Biography

Michelle Singletary is a nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post. Her column, "The Color of Money" is an award-winning column, which is now carried in about 120 newspapers across the country including the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, Tampa Tribune and Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

In 2003, she published her first book, “7 Money Mantras For A Richer Life: How To Live Well With The Money You Have (Random House). The paperback was retitled “Spend Well, Live Rich.”

Her second book, “Your Money and Your Man: How You and Prince Charming Can Spend Well and Live Rich” was released in January 2006, also published by Random House. The paperback was released in February 2007. She is currently working on a proposal for a third book.

In January 2006, Singletary launched her first national television program “Singletary Says” on TV One, owned Radio One and Comcast. “Singletary Says” is a half hour personal finance reality show in which Singletary visits people in their homes to help resolve various financial issues. The second Season of Singletary Says debuted in November 2006. In the coming year, she will be doing personal finance specials for TV One.

Singletary is a regular personal finance contributor for National Public Radio’s afternoon program “Day To Day.” Her segments for NPR are now available via podcast. She is frequently asked to appear on local and national radio programs including the “Diane Rehm Show.” She has appeared on all three major networks, NBC, ABC and CBS. She has prepared personal finance segments for local and national news programs, and for a number of network and nationally syndicated programs, including "Oprah,” “NBC’s Today Show,” “The Early Show on CBS,” "Nightline," CNN, "The View,” and “Tavis Smiley” on PBS. In 2000, she was recruited as a regular contributor to do live financial segments for MSNBC.

Singletary also hosted her own radio call-in program on XM 169 The Power in 2007. The African-American news/talk channel was programmed by Radio One. Her personal finance program along several others was cancelled after Radio One ended its relationship with XM Satellite Radio for business reasons.

For nearly a decade Singletary was also a regular contributor on Howard University's evening news radio program, "Insight." During the 1997-1998 television season, Singletary was a regular correspondent on BET's "Real Business." She has filled in for nationally syndicated radio host Clark Howard on his local program on the top-rated News-Talk 750 WSB in Atlanta.

Singletary is currently the host of a live online chat on the Post's Web site, washingtonpost.com. She also has a widely read electronic newsletter with more than 150,000 subscribers distributed by The Washington Post. In her column, chats, newsletter, television show and books Singletary delivers advice on personal finance issues that range from lending your honey money (don’t do it), to raising money smart kids to the importance of saving and investing.

In 2006, Singletary’s book, “Your Money and Your Man” was a finalist for “Books for a Better Life,” which honors the best self-improvement books. This highly regarded award promotes the importance of one of the largest and fastest-growing segments in the book publishing business.

Just a year after starting her column, The Washington Post nominated it for a Pulitzer Prize. Most recently, her column won a prestigious award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. She won Best in Business for a series of columns that ran in 2007. The judges wrote: “Michelle Singletary's work illustrates a range of writing that's both approachable and explanatory.” “The Color of Money” has placed first in the major newspaper category of the ICI Education Foundation/American University awards for Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting. The column also earned a first place for business writing from the National Association of Black Journalists.

Singletary is frequently requested to be a keynote speaker. She has spoken at events held at top universities including Georgetown, University of Maryland, Hampton, Howard and Simmons College School of Management in Boston. She has also conducted personal finance workshops for various organizations including the National Football League's annual Rookie Symposium for incoming freshman players.

Prior to becoming a columnist for The Washington Post, Singletary covered local and national banking for the Post. She joined the paper in 1992 and was assigned to cover bankruptcy. In 1994, she was awarded a fellowship by NABJ to write about small women-owned businesses in West Africa. While in Africa, she helped cover the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela, and shared the lead story on election day with the Post's foreign correspondent, writing about a Soweto family's day at the polls.

In her spare time, Singletary is the director of “Prosperity Partners,” a ministry she founded at her church in which women and men, who handle their money well, volunteer to mentor others who are having financial challenges. Once a month, Singletary conducts a workshop for the ministry group on topics that range from tithing, to developing a budget to getting out of debt.

Before coming to the Post, Singletary was a business reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun, where she also covered police, religion, politics, and zoning. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park, and Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a master's degree in business and management. Singletary and her husband reside in Maryland with their three children.