What it would cost to live like the Home Alone family today

The classic Christmas movie Home Alone tells the unlikely story of a family who leaves their 8-year-old son at home when they go on vacation.

But in the years since the 1990 film’s release, viewers have focused on a different question: How wealthy was the fictional McCallister family featured in the film?

The family orders 10 pizzas the night before their trip, stays in a house that can accommodate 15 people (including extended family), and flies everyone to Paris for the Christmas holidays.

“They’re doing well and doing well financially,” said Cody Garrett, certified financial planner and owner of Measure Twice Financial in Houston, of the McCallisters’ first impression of their circumstances.

But the family may not be quite as wealthy as they seem, Garrett said.

To better understand the details of the McCallister family’s financial situation, Garrett recently published a detailed analysis of the family’s finances from Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which debuted in late 1992 came out and held a webinar with around 25 financial planners to discuss the financial planning opportunities presented in the films.

Both films were made long before social media made it popular to flaunt personal wealth online. Still, the lifestyle the McCallister family shows the world is not necessarily an indication of their wealth, Garrett said.

“There are a lot of things that show they spent a lot of money or at least funded a lavish lifestyle for the public,” Garrett said. “But in their own home, they may actually be a little anxious about money.”

What seemed more luxurious more than 30 years ago, when the first two films were made, is even more luxurious today, thanks in large part to the effects of inflation.

The actual five-bedroom, six-bathroom home in Winnetka, Illinois, where the film was filmed was listed in the spring for $5.25 million. It is currently under contract and a final selling price will not be announced until the deal closes, according to Zillow spokesman Matt Kreamer.

According to Kreamer, buying the home today for $5.25 million would cost about $34,000 a month, plus principal, interest and property taxes. This applies to a down payment of 20% and a mortgage interest rate of 7%.

To comfortably afford the house, you would need an income of $100,000 per month, assuming you stick to an affordability threshold where you spend no more than a third of your income on housing costs, Kreamer said.

“It’s a pretty spectacular house and certainly one of the most famous movie houses that people can immediately recognize,” Kreamer said.

In 1990, when the first film was released, the house was worth a little less than a million dollars, Kreamer estimates, which is still high for the time.

Nevertheless, the house does not necessarily indicate a high fortune for the McCallister film family.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have a lot of equity in their home,” Garrett said, given the couple’s stage of life and circumstances.

In the films, the McCallisters also drive relatively new cars at the time – a 1986 Buick Electra Estate Wagon and a 1990 Buick LeSabre – each of which would be worth $40,000 according to today’s estimates.

While the family is eager to flaunt their wealth – including mother Kate paying the $122.50 pizza bill in cash while offering a generous tip – they are frugal when it comes to keeping things that people don’t see, Garrett said.

How the family talks about money can sometimes indicate a scarcity mentality, he said. For example, Kate mentions that she doesn’t want to waste the family’s milk before she goes on vacation.

You cannot support your family alone. Peter’s brother Rob actually covers the costs of the family’s trip to Paris. According to a recent estimate from GoBankingRates, that flight would cost around $55,650 today, with first-class tickets costing $8,528 each on the Christmas travel days.

However, the McCallisters could get the flights for an average of about $25,000, Garrett said based on his recent flight research. For most families, this would still be a significant cost factor.

Many important details about Kate and Peter McCallister’s finances are not disclosed, including what they do for a living.

Still, the financial planners who assessed the family’s circumstances saw some gaps that planning could address.

At the top of their wish list: good insurance coverage.

Because Kate and Peter McCallister have five children, Garrett says having adequate life and disability insurance should be a top priority in the event of their death or incapacity to ensure their loved ones are taken care of.

The film – which shows many slips and falls in the family home as 8-year-old Kevin tries to fend off a pair of robbers – also signals the need for umbrella insurance in case the McCallisters are found liable for any injuries or damages that occur.

Kate and Peter – who forget or lose their son Kevin in the first two Home Alone films – would also be wise to undertake proper estate planning in the event that they no longer provide or care for their children can. This includes wills, powers of attorney, living wills, beneficiary designations, trusts and proper account titles, all of which are up to date.

The couple should appoint a guardian who can look after the children. You can also appoint a guardian for the children to step in when needed if the parents are unable to care for them, even for a short time, said Aubrey Williams, a financial planner at Open Path Financial in Santa Barbara, California.

“If parents are not there to look after the children, there is a possibility that children will become wards of the state, even if only for a short time, because there is no one to look after them,” said Williams.

Correction: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of LeSabre.