Michelle Singletary is a nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post. Her column, "The Color of Money," is carried in more than 120 newspapers across the country including the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, Tampa Tribune and Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Just a year after starting her column, The Washington Post nominated it for a Pulitzer Prize. In 1999, “The Color of Money” won first place in the major newspaper category of the ICI Education Foundation/American University awards for Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting. A year earlier, the column earned first place for business writing from the National Association of Black Journalists.
Singletary is also 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 2003, she published her first book, “7 Money Mantras For A Richer Life: How To Live Well With The Money You Have." Her second book, “Your Money and Your Man: How You and Prince Charming Can Spend Well and Live Rich” was released in 2006. She is currently working on a proposal for a third book. Singletary’s book, “Your Money and Your Man” was a finalist for “Books for a Better Life,” which honors the best self-improvement books.
In 2006 Michelle launched her first national television program, "Singletary Says" on TV One, owned by 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. 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.” She is frequently asked to appear on local and national radio programs including the “Diane Rehm Show.” She has prepared personal finance segments for a number of network and nationally syndicated programs, including "Oprah," "The 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 of financial segments for MSNBC.
Singletary has spoken for many groups including Georgetown University, HUD, Essence, Simmons College School of Management in Boston and the National Football League's annual Rookie Symposium.
Prior to becoming a columnist for The Washington Post, Singletary covered local and national banking for the Post. 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.
