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He gets most of his money abducting kids for Q's research firm
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he talks about his salary in the books, it was a fairly modest civil servant stipend, plus an unlimited overseas expense account . >

Seeing as how the glamorous stuff is often part of his cover, that makes sense for a field agent. Often he's infiltrating exotic locales and targeting higher society individuals. Can't have the card declining undercover.
Though I do remember that one scene in Quantum where he forces his MI6 wrangler to let them stay in a more upscale hotel than the dump she took him too, to the point he revises their  cover story to teachers "that just won the lottery".
I think he has a bit of personal wealth too from various occasions. The Aston Martin DB5, for example, belongs to him, not M16. On the occasion of his retirement, he seems to be living well. >

In Skyfall it’s implied that his family was wealthy. >

I mean the family’s country estate was more than just implied, as they spent the entire finale there. >

Wait, wasn't it established in Casino Royale that he grew up poor, and that the rich college kids made fun of him for it? >

Considering the alternative is the destruction of England with a stolen nuclear device, I think the Queen will rubber stamp his reimbursement paperwork. >

Clearly you’ve never had to submit a civil service expenses claim without prior approval!
Vodka Martini? I’m sorry 007 but your per diem won’t cover that. >

If you're using it for cover, why not? >

Because any time anyone asks you say your name is "bond, james bond" .. cover kinda blown. >

But his name was his cover. Not like he said “007… agent 007” >

It looks to me like Bond treats his missions like all-expenses-paid trips, so he makes a point to 'live it up' on the job. When he's not on a mission, Bond lives more simply. >

As would I if I were a secret agent prepared to die any day >

If Skyfall is to be believed, he is an Commander(O-5) in the Royal Navy. Intelligence agents being given Naval Commisions is common as the are a part of the host nation's military, and is give plausible deniability.
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Your agent did a thing! 
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>Nah bro, he was totally running drills on this ship he serves on. >

I could be mistaken but I feel like I remember him being referred to as “Commander Bond” in one of the Connery or Brosnan movies? But I could be mistaken.
Though I do know from the books he was a commander before being recruited to MI6. So it wasn’t a cover. >

Bond is referred to as Commander on a couple of occasions. Moreover, we see him wearing his Royal Navy dress uniform on three occasions (You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Tomorrow Never Dies). On every occasion, he has the rank of commander on his cuffs. >

Add a commander in the Royal Navy, he would have been on about £85k. As a high ranking agent in SIS (the real MI6) he'd likely be on more money than that.
It's not a typical civil servant's salary. But also SCS3 civil servants can earn £200k. >

You know MI6 is real right and is part of the SIS? >

MI6 & SIS are different names for the same agency, rather than one being part of the other. >

Unlimited expense account, spends all his salary as he doesn’t expect to live to 45, and he has income from a trust fund that’s about the same as his after-tax salary (implied to be an inheritance from his mum), being a gambler. Fleming lays out the numbers in Moonraker.
Plus at the time Fleming was writing, London rent wasn’t quite as outrageous as it is now.
Book-Bond also wasn’t a fashionista like the film version. >


spends all his salary as he doesn’t expect to live to 45

/r/shittylifeprotips >

YOLO - Bond (James Bond) >

I hope he had good health care, what with all the slags he rawdogged. >

He is the slag. >

Stud* >

He's a fuckin floozy >

Didn't Skyfall kind of explain/show he came from money?  Probably has a trust fund, and works as an agent more out of duty and the thrill.
Edited to add, when he's working, probably has a blank check "expense account" to get the job done.  But when he gambles or what ever, he always ends up with more money than he goes in with >

I can’t remember if it was Skyfall or Qantum of Solace but Daniel Craig’s Bond lives in a basically empty apartment owned by MI6 when he’s not on a mission. He’s such a broken human being that he doesn’t know how to spend any of his money. He can spend money on the mission but not on himself. >

Pretty sure his childhood home is one hell of a mansion in skyfall… >

Yeah it’s rundown as hell. Skyfall is one big analogy about living in the ruins of splendour. Bond has his big mansion filled with suppressed trauma that he never visits, Raoul Silva has his evil base on an abandoned factory town island, M has MI6, and the whole thing can be read as a metaphor for the perpetuation of state manipulation and violence used to prop up the rotting corpse of the British empire. >

Can you explain the metaphor a bit more? Pointing out the contrast between the aging ruins and the abandoned island was really interesting to me because I didn’t think to compare them.
I don’t doubt there is a metaphor I’m just curious how you’d describe it. >

Civil Servant?
MI6 is not a civil service. 
it's (his royal majesty's secret service),
Its Military Intelligence not civilian.
Edit: well everyone... I was wrong >

Both MI6 (officially SIS) and MI5 (officially BSS) are civilian services, as is GCHQ, which also harks back to a military organisation (room 40 at the Admiralty). All three are primarily staffed by civilians. The U.K. military intelligence organisation is Defence Intelligence, and that is mostly staffed by military as well as a lot of civil servants. >

Well said, nice to see a Redditor who can stand up and correct their mistakes. Have a great day, wherever you are 😊 >

No spouse no kids. Makes all the difference. Plus an Etsy shop on the side. >

I always assumed he just rifles through the wallets of all the henchmen he kills, it's gotta add up after a while. >

Secret Agent Scavenger! >

I was listening to an interview with a woman who wrote a book on cia assassins most live in three or four bedroom houses in very middle class neighborhoods. They don't drive super cars and sleep with Eva green. >

Do we ever actually see Bond just living his life though? He’s always on the job and presumably the government is footing the bill for him to keep up appearances. >

James bond lives a very glamorous life on a high ranking civil servant's expense account.
That's an important distinction. lol >

Canon is that he's on an unlimited expense account while on duty. >

In Quantum of Solace we literally see MI5 cutting off his credit cards. He doesn’t pay for shit. >

It's almost never his own money. He submits detailed expense reports, but Ian Fleming never mentions the accounting . . . >

We can’t bring boring real life stuff into the glitz and glam now can we? Could you imagine him having conversations with him self in the middle of a mission computing his per diem making sure he doesn’t overspend. >

He is on the job to catch high end suspects. He has to play the part on the government billfold >

We have only seen bond working we have never seen his life at all. For good reason. >

With the amount of travel points you can accumulate in some jobs, at times, you really can dabble in the finer things in life. >

Do you have any idea how many millions were spent on the Bin Laden raid? We lost a stealth Blackhawk that doesn't exist.
007 staying in an oceanside BnB for a few weeks for similar results is saving tax payers a fortune! Of course he gets every expense approved. >

Since Casino Royale he is driving older and older cars. Next movie - undercover uber driver with Prius. Easy to kill but not easy to repay gambling debts. I’m expecting him at some point in “can’t pay? We will take it away” 😀 >

Company credit card, secure housing provided by the government, travel expenses paid for.... He may genuinely only make $120k, but he is provided with everything. This is more common than you would think. Commercial diving, travel nursing, travel physician, mining/oil field industry, etc. Fort McMurray Alberta, Canada was kinda nice to be in. My time as a commercial diver was enjoyable, if you work Quebec or TO, you can enjoy the hotel life paid for by the film production teams as you're the water safety diver. If you're working true commercial diving or offshore, working off boats is fine enough it's just the chamber life that sucks. Then moving to travel nursing, they pay $3500 USD for housing allowance in NY. This is pretty good, you can get some decent accommodation and you still make your weekly pay. If you're in Canada, they usually just book your AirBnB, and those are typically pretty nice in the Vancouver area. General budget is $3500 to $4000 CAD. Working with some per diem physicians, they were paid an extra $200/hr to come to the rural ER I was working at. Was nuts, and they put the physician up at a decent local hotel. >

James bond was based on a real person, I think I remember from a documentary.  He was rich from family wealth, helped the government as a patriot, not for a salary. >

He was a combination of some of Fleming’s friends and colleagues from Naval Intelligence plus a wish-fullfilment element.  Most of them (including Fleming) were posh. >

Good point. Historically British officers were from the aristocracy. >

James s Bond is an identity used by HMSS, just like Q, M, and Felix, the person behind the name changes, but the identity does not. >

This isn't true, there are multiple events linking different actors' Bonds as the same people. >

No one spends their personal funds on work-related expenses. 
Either way, this is explained in the books, and his lifestyle is a lot more humble. In fact, a lot of James Bond-isms that we now consider to be sophisticated (such as “shaken not stirred” or drinking champagne all the time) were considered gauche in the 1950s. >

Love your username ☺️ >

Wow, James Bond must have some serious money-saving skills! He's definitely an inspiration when it comes to living a luxurious life on a budget. >

Don't forget the gambling. >

I was under the impression that the Connery Era Bond used to make his mad money gambling. >

I think the idea is that his expense account is unlimited so he can fit in with the rich and powerful. >

Wouldn't be much of a cover if his expenses were limited. >

What's so odd about that? How many 1%er politicians does the world have because they're never held accountable for corruption and insider trading? Ever think it's odd some politicians out trade wall street? >

The last Bond girl shagged him on her occult birthday before running off to shag a cult leader.