If there’s anything people think they know about Millennials, it’s how irresponsible we are when it comes to money. No one in their 20s contributes to a 401(k), right? We’d rather work two part-time jobs than a full-time one that offers health insurance and a retirement plan; we live with Mom and Dad so we can spend our money on vacations rather than a place to settle down. We have more credit card debt than savings, right?
Not so fast.
Millennials have spent the past few years feeling the full force of the Great Recession. We graduated from college into the toughest job market in decades; we watched rent go up but paychecks stay unchanged. Many probably think they’ll never retire, expecting Social Security to be belly-up long before they are ready to stop working.
At RedEye, we want to cut through the chatter and take an honest look at how Millennials actually earn, spend and save money. We’re calling the series Young Money (get it?) and kicking it off with today’s cover story, which breaks down some of the myths.
As part of the yearlong series, we’ve expanded our weekly Brokesters page, offering deeper looks at personal and national finance and what those mean for those of us born after 1980.
Throughout the year we’ll continue the discussion in our print and iPad editions and at redeyechicago.com.
We’re also marking one year since launching our Chicago Violence series. Our goal then was to take a frank look at how our city suffers because of violent crime, and to start a conversation about change. We reported some of the untold stories across the city of people who are affected by this issue. I’m most proud of our attempts to highlight some of the boots-on-the-ground work of young men and women across Chicago who are fighting to make their neighborhoods safer.
Our weekly homicide map was the first of its kind in Chicago when it launched five years ago, and remains a fixture in our pages. We will continue to track data related to Chicago violence and shine a light on the way crime affects readers across the city.
We know you come to RedEye for fun coverage of TV, pop culture, sports and nightlife, but that you also want a straightforward take on issues that affect your life directly. We’re determined to continue expanding our news content in every area that you value.
—Courtney Linehan
Courtney Linehan is RedEye’s managing editor for content.
colinehan@tribune.com
![There’ll be more than one story to write about “Sundance Institute x Chicago,” coming to town June 28-30. Consider these to be some preliminary questions to be answered in a couple of months. A sort of pop-up import, sponsored by the Chicago Film Office and Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism bureau, “Sundance Institute x Chicago” is the power of branding incarnate. The event will consist of a modest four-screening package of titles that premiered in January at the annual Sundance Film Festival of Park City, Utah fame. The off-screen activity’s the apparent bigger deal: panels, discussions, filmmaker-centric meetups, patterned after […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CTC-L-Sundance-01.jpg?w=579 "There’ll be more than one story to write about “Sundance Institute x Chicago,” coming to town June 28-30. Consider these to be some preliminary questions to be answered in a couple of months. A sort of pop-up import, sponsored by the Chicago Film Office and Choose Chicago, the city’s tourism bureau, “Sundance Institute x Chicago” is the power of branding incarnate. The event will consist of a modest four-screening package of titles that premiered in January at the annual Sundance Film Festival of Park City, Utah fame. The off-screen activity’s the apparent bigger deal: panels, discussions, filmmaker-centric meetups, patterned after […]")
