James Bond is a mid-ranking civil servant on a modest government salary, so it’s not entirely clear how he manages to afford his lavish lifestyle. In Live and Let Die, Roger Moore’s Bond is shown to live in a giant, luxurious mansion. In No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s Bond goes on a vacation to Matera and retires to a lovely villa in sunny Jamaica. He seems to be pretty wealthy, but the government doesn’t pay its intelligence agents anywhere near as much as the BBC pays its top presenters, so how does 007 afford this stuff?

Between Ian Fleming’s source material and a few details mentioned throughout the movies, Bond’s salary and expensive lifestyle have been explained. The monetary revelations in the books have to be adjusted for inflation, since Fleming began writing them in the 1950s, but they do give a clear idea of how much Bond earns and how he affords his fancy lifestyle. The reason Bond can live such a lavish lifestyle is that he doesn’t entirely pay for it out of his own pocket.

How Much James Bond Is Paid As A British Secret Service Agent

According To The Books, Bond Makes Around £80,000 A Year In Today’s Money

In the third chapter of the original Goldfinger novel, Bond is staying in a high-end H๏τel room called “The Aloha Suite,” which costs about £200 a day to stay in. Bond calculates that it would take him three weeks to spend an entire year’s salary on that suite. This means that Bond’s annual salary is £200 times 21, which comes to £4,200. Goldfinger was written in 1958, so that amount would be worth significantly more now. Adjusted for inflation, Bond’s salary comes out to £83,663.22.

Why James Bond’s Lifestyle Is So Extravagant

007’s Undercover Personas & Gambling Skills Help To Fund A Fancy Lifestyle

£80,000 is a pretty good salary, but it’s nowhere near enough to fund Bond’s lifestyle. Bond is shown enjoying vintage cars, designer watches, fine wines, tailored suits, private jets, and five-star vacations all over the globe — it would cost millions. The easiest answer is that the series is pure escapism. But there is a practical explanation, too. Bond’s extravagant lifestyle is a cover paid for by the British government. All his equipment, like his cars and gadgets, are also funded by MI6.

Bond often uses the fictional corporation Universal Exports as a cover, so MI6 has to give him enough expenses to convince people he’s a rich businessman. He also has other covers that require a lot of money to pull off. In Casino Royale, his cover is that of an expat millionaire, and the government gives him plenty of cash to keep up that image. James Bond is also shown to be a proficient gambler — in Moonraker, he wins £15,000 at bridge (worth about £72,000 today) — so he probably uses those gambling skills to supplement his income.