Millionaire actor Will Ferrell explains why he makes his kids fly economy on a 'different plane'

Olivia Burke
2026-03-28T11:22:37.589Z
Entertainment

The actor said he is 'trying to teach the value of a buck' to his three sons

People can't tell whether Will Ferrell was on the wind up or not when discussing how he teaches his children 'the value of a buck'.

The actor, 58, has got a rumoured net worth of a whopping $160million, so you might presume that his three sons grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth.

However, if his latest comment's are anything to go by, that couldn't be further from the truth.

The Step Brothers star shares three children with his wife Viveca Paulin, who he tied the knot with in August 2000. They are parents to sons Magnus, 22, Mattias, 19, and Axel, 16.

Like in most areas of his life, Ferrell appears to take quite a comical approach to parenting and has previously admitted that he relishes in embarrassing his offspring.

"If they've been mouthing off or something, I turn up at dinner wearing just my underpants to warn them," the Elf actor told BANG Showbiz in 2017, as per People.

"I can only imagine, but I sometimes equate [parenting boys] to what it must be like running a prison. There is so much chaos you can't really take the time to articulate."

Will Ferrell seen with Viveca Paulin and their three sons in 2023 (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this week, Ferrell sat down for an appearance on the Harland Highway Podcast, which is hosted by fellow funnyman Harland Williams.

The actor was asked whether he considers himself to be 'cheap' or a penny-pincher in life, and he said he is actually a 'pretty generous tipper'.

However, Ferrell then admitted: "I won't pay for stuff for my kids."

Explaining what he meant, the California-born film star said: "They have got to...like food and clothing. They've got to earn it.

"They have just got to figure it out. It's part of life. Figure it out, I had to! If we take a family trip, I'll sit in first class - and my kids will sit, not only in coach, but on a different airline.

"I'll make sure it's a red-eye, I'll get the cheapest fair. Economy. And as many layovers as possible. I'm trying to teach the value of a buck."

The actor said he makes his kids fly economy to 'teach them the value of a buck' (Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for Santa Barbara International Film Festival)

Williams appeared to be genuinely surprised by his guest's stance - but he then hilariously suggested that Ferrell could save even more money by 'stuffing his kids in dog crates to fly underneath [the plane]'.

"I might dress them up as dogs," Ferrell joked. "Hot little sweaty dog outfits. Okay, we're onto something!"

The pair then started spitballing other unusual ideas to transport his kids from one place to another without spending loads of money, including strapping them to hypothetical 'roof racks' on top of an aircraft.

Williams then jokingly asked if Ferrell 'hated his kids' and the father-of-three replied: "No I love them, I really do. But...you know."

Given that the two blokes having this conversation are renowned comedians, it's fair to assume they were just joshing around - but after footage of this snippet of the podcast went viral, some aren't so sure.

Taking to X, one social media user said: "You can build character without making your kids feel excluded."

Will Ferrell says he doesn’t buy ANYTHING for his kids, saying when they travel as a family he flies first class and makes them sit in economy on a whole different airline 😭😂

“they gotta earn it… they just gotta figure it out, I had to”
pic.twitter.com/6LdEXkit8o
— keeno ✧ (@ayekeeno) March 27, 2026

Another added: "Terrible parenting, no parent should want they kid to struggle like they did. Especially a rich parent."

While a third wrote: "I thought the whole purpose of making it in life was to help the next generation?"

Others couldn't believe that some people thought Ferrell's remarks had any truth behind them, as one person pointed out: "It's worth mentioning this hilarious podcast is almost never serious. This is freestyle comedy rants and banter between the host and the guest. So he might've been doing a bit on that one."

Another said: "It’s concerning how many people think he’s serious."

A third laughed: "I forgot Will is the OG troll lol," while another chimed in: "Guys you really need to listen to this carefully. He isn’t being serious this is a bit."