Many Americans are capping off the holidays with new debt balances.

This season, 36% of American consumers took on holiday debt, according to a new survey from LendingTree.

Those who racked up balances this season took on an average of $1,181 in debt, up from $1,028 in 2023. However, that is still down from $1,549 in 2022, LendingTree found.

Less than half — 44% — of the people who took on debt expected to acquire those balances, a sign that this holiday season is still financially challenging for many people, according to Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree.

More from Personal Finance:
What it may cost to live like the ‘Home Alone’ family today
After the holidays comes the biggest return season of the year
How much Mariah Carey makes from ‘All I Want for Christmas is You’

Higher prices caused by inflation remain an issue for many individuals and families this holiday season, he said.

“Some of it is people just wanting to wrap up what’s been a difficult year by spreading a little joy, and maybe they ended up taking on a little bit of extra debt to do so,” Schulz said.

Those most likely to take on debt this season include parents of young children, with 48%; millennials ages 28 to 43, with 42%; and individuals who earn $30,000 to $49,999, with 39%, according to LendingTree.

Consumers who went into debt over the holidays run the risk of still carrying those balances when next year’s holiday season comes around. Almost half of Americans still have debt from last year’s holidays, WalletHub recently found.

Meanwhile, paying down debt is a top financial resolution for 2025, according to a recent Bankrate survey.

For those who want to get out of debt, it helps to get started as soon as possible, Schulz said.

Successfully knocking off those balances has its own reward in the way of freedom, said Laura Mattia, a certified financial planner and senior vice president at Wealth Enhancement Group in Sarasota, Florida, who works with clients at all levels of wealth.

“People love to be debt free,” Mattia said. “The idea of not owing anybody any money is extremely comforting.”

Retirement savers, take note: more employers have added a Roth savings option to their workplace 401(k) plans.

And, due to a legislative change, it’s likely the remaining holdouts will soon offer it, too.

About 93% of 401(k) plans offered a Roth account in 2023, according to an annual poll published in December by the Plan Sponsor Council of America, an employer trade group.

That’s up from 89% in 2022 and 62% a decade ago, according to the survey, which polled more than 700 employers with 401(k) plans of varying size.

You want to choose the one that will keep your tax bill lowest. In short, it’s a tax bet.

This requires some educated guesswork. For example, many financial advisors recommend Roth accounts for those who are early in their careers, a point at which their tax rate is likely to be lower than in the future, when their salary will almost certainly be higher.

More from Personal Finance:
Number of millennial 401(k) millionaires jumps 400%
Biden ends some student loan forgiveness plans
Why the ‘great resignation’ became the ‘great stay’

“We always recommend [Roth] for someone who’s in a low salary, typically the younger working folks,” said Olga Ismail, head of retirement plans consulting at Provenance Wealth Advisors.

“It’s the lowest tax bracket you’re ever going to be in, so why not take advantage of it now if you can?” she said.

A Roth 401(k) also provides a unique savings opportunity. Roth individual retirement accounts — Roth IRAs, for short — have a lower annual contribution limit than 401(k)s and have income caps on eligibility. A 401(k) has no income caps. So, a Roth 401(k) lets higher earners access a Roth account directly, and allows all savers to contribute more money to a Roth account than they could otherwise.

Financial planners also generally recommend diversifying among pretax and Roth savings. This grants tax flexibility in retirement.

For example, strategically withdrawing money from a Roth account for income may keep some retirees from triggering higher premiums for Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D. Those premiums may increase with income — but Roth withdrawals don’t count toward taxable income.

Also, while many people expect their tax rates to decline in retirement, this isn’t always the case.

A 2022 retirement law known as Secure 2.0 will require “catch up” 401(k) contributions to be made to Roth accounts, if the worker’s income exceeds $145,000 (indexed to inflation). That rule takes effect in 2026.

High earners age 50 or older would be required to contribute any additional savings over the annual 401(k) limit to a Roth account, meaning nearly all 401(k) plans would likely need to offer Roth accounts, Ismail said.

Workers can save up to $23,000 in a 401(k) for 2024. Those age 50 and older can save an extra $7,500 in catch-up contributions.

“Offering Roth as an option has become a best practice the last few years,” and due to the mandate for high earners, “we will continue to see Roth become commonplace,” said Hattie Greenan, PSCA’s research director.

Additionally, Secure 2.0 allows businesses to make an employer 401(k) contribution like a match as Roth savings. About 13% of employers said they would “definitely” add the option, and another 35% said they’re still considering it, according to PSCA data.

The classic Christmas movie “Home Alone” tells the improbable tale of a family who leaves their 8-year-old son home when they leave for vacation.

Yet in the years since the 1990 film was released, viewers have focused on another question — how wealthy was the fictitious McCallister family featured in the movie?

The family orders 10 pizzas on the eve of their trip, lives in a house that can sleep 15 people (including extended family) and all fly to Paris for the Christmas holiday.

“They’re well off and in a good place financially,” Cody Garrett, a certified financial planner, owner and financial planner at Measure Twice Financial in Houston, said of the first impression of the McCallisters’ 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 circumstances, Garrett recently did a deep dive analysis of the family’s finances from “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” which debuted in late 1992, and hosted a webinar with around 25 financial planners to discuss financial planning opportunities that arise in the movies.

Both movies were shot long before social media made it popular to flaunt personal wealth online. Nevertheless, the lifestyle the McCallister family shows to the world may not necessarily be an indication of their wealth, Garrett said.

“There’s a lot of things that are showing that they spent a lot of money, or at least financed a lavish lifestyle to the public,” Garrett said. “But inside their own home, they’re actually maybe a little scared about money.”

The actual five-bedroom, six-bathroom Winnetka, Illinois, home where the movie was filmed was listed for $5.25 million in the spring. Today, it is still under contract, and a final sale price won’t be known until the deal is finalized, according to Zillow spokesperson Matt Kreamer.

To buy the house at $5.25 million today would cost approximately $34,000 per month, with principal, interest and property taxes, according to Kreamer. That’s with 20% down and a 7% mortgage rate.

To comfortably afford the home, you would need $100,000 per month in income, assuming you’re adhering to an affordability threshold of not spending more than one-third of your income on housing costs, Kreamer said.

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

In 1990 when the first movie debuted, the home would have likely been worth a little less than $1 million, Kreamer estimates, which is still high for that time.

Yet the home may not necessarily point to a high net worth for the McCallister movie family.

“I would not be surprised if they don’t have much equity in their house,” Garrett said, given the couple’s stage of life and circumstances.

In the films, the McCallisters are also driving what at the time were relatively new cars — a 1986 Buick Electra Estate Wagon and a 1990 Buick LaSabre — each of which would be valued at $40,000 in today’s dollars, according to Garrett’s estimates.

While the family is eager to show their wealth — including mother Kate paying in cash for the $122.50 pizza bill while also offering a generous tip — they’re frugal when it comes to the things people don’t see, Garrett said.

How the family talks about money can sometimes point to a scarcity mindset, he said. For example, Kate mentions she doesn’t want to waste the family’s milk before they leave on vacation.

The family’s lifestyle isn’t paid for all on their own. Peter’s brother Rob actually foots the cost of the Paris trip for the family. That airfare would cost around $55,650 today, GoBankingRates recently estimated.