Biography
Jane Bryant Quinn is a nationally recognized financial journalist and commentator on personal finance. Over her distinguished career, she established herself as America’s most reliable voice for people trying to manage their money well. Her books and columns have been read and trusted by millions.
Her career includes one of the country’s most successful newspaper columns, published twice-weekly and syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group to more than 250 newspapers. She wrote a biweekly column for Newsweek magazine for 30 years, a biweekly column for Bloomberg.com and CBS MoneyWatch.com, and long-running monthly columns for Woman’s Day, Good Housekeeping and AARP Monthly Bulletin.
Jane is the author of How to Make Your Money Last: The Indispensable Retirement Guide, a popular guide to stretching your savings over your lifetime. A second, updated edition was published in 2020. Her best-selling book, Making the Most of Your Money, was named the best personal finance book on the market by Consumers Union. A comprehensive guide to personal finance, it was first published in 1991 and has been in print ever since. The most recent edition, Making the Most of Your Money NOW: The Classic Bestseller Completely Revised for the New Economy, was published in 2009.
She is also the author of Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People, her personal list of the best, low-cost strategies for saving more money, finding good insurance, planning for college tuition, investing for retirement, and other personal financial topics. She wrote her first bestseller, Everyone’s Money Book, in 1978.
An Emmy award winner, Jane worked extensively in television. She co-hosted the Public Broadcasting System investment series, Beyond Wall Street and hosted her own PBS program, personal-finance series Take Charge! She spent ten years with CBS News, first on the CBS Morning News, then on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather. She appeared twice weekly on ABC’s The Home Show in the early 1990s and has been a frequent guest on numerous news programs, including Good Morning America and Nightline, PBS NewsHour, and many others.
In the late 1990s, she contributed to the development of the top-selling software program, Quicken Financial Planner, a personalized guide to saving and investing for college and retirement.
In 2010, Jane co-founded the online local community news platform DailyVoice.com and served as the organization’s editorial director until 2016.
She has been a frequent speaker for business, civic, and educational groups, discussing the current state of the economy and what it means for managing money.
Jane graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College in 1960. After college, she worked as a reporter for, then as co-editor of, The Insider’s Newsletter, a consumer letter published by Cowles Communications. She later co-founded and edited The Business Week Letter, a biweekly newsletter on personal finance from McGraw-Hill.
Jane has many awards to her credit. She was named by the World Almanac as one of the 25 most influential women in the United States and is the winner of an Emmy Award for outstanding coverage of news on television. She won the Gerald Loeb Award for Lifetime Achievement for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism; the ICI-American University Journalism Award for Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting; a two-time winner of the John Hancock Award for excellence in Business and Financial Journalism; the Janus Award for excellence in television reporting; is a three-time winner of the National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism; twice a winner of the National Headliner Award; and honored by the Consumer Federation of America for Outstanding Consumer Media Service. In 1997, she was named one of the “100 Most Influential Business Journalists” by The Journalist and Financial Reporter newsletter.
She currently serves as a director on the board of Bloomberg LP. Over the course of her career, she served on the Dean’s Council of the Harvard School of Public Health, the Board of Advisors for the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, and the Board of Trustees at her alma mater, Middlebury College. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and spokesperson for the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard.
Jane is married, has two children, six stepchildren, and lots of lovely grandchildren. Born in Niagara Falls, she now lives in New York City.
An archive of her many informative articles and blog posts are available at www.janebquinn.com. She is tweeting @janebryantquinn.