Michelle Singletary writes the nationally syndicated personal finance column “The Color of Money,” which appears in The Washington Post on Wednesdays and Sundays. Her award-winning column is syndicated by The Washington Post News Service and Syndicate and is carried in dozens of newspapers nationwide. In 2021, she won the Gerald Loeb award for commentary. She has written four personal finance books, including, “What to Do With Your Money When Crisis Hits: A Survival Guide” and “The 21-Day Financial Fast: Your Path to Financial Peace and Freedom.” Singletary was the financial expert for “The Revolution,” a daytime program on ABC. For two years, she was the host of her own national television program, “Singletary Says,” on TV One. She is a frequent contributor to NPR programs and has appeared on national talk shows and television networks, including CNN, PBS, NBC’s “Today” and “The Early Show on CBS.” In her spare time, Singletary is the director of a ministry she founded at her church, in which women and men volunteer to mentor others who are having financial challenges. As part of this ministry, she and her husband also volunteer to teach financial literacy to prison inmates. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park. She has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Johns Hopkins University, where she earned a master’s degree in business and management. In 2020, The Washington Post celebrated her long and distinguished career at the paper with the Eugene Meyer Award, its highest journalistic honor.
She was raised by her grandmother, Big Mama, who she credits with teaching her the lessons that led to her success as a journalist writing about finances. She also works regularly with grandfamilies throughout her church ministry.