Where do they get their money?

Where does the Solos' and Skywalkers' income come from? I imagine that Leia has credits stored away from her time as various governmental officials, including Cheif of State. Mara probably has a bit from her time with Karrde. Luke and Han maybe from when they were officers in the military. However, with the war and all. . .

For those of you who are thinking: "Does it really matter?", you're right because it doesn't. I was just wondering because with the war over and a kind of "peace" settling over the galaxy, they have a chance to lead a sort of 'normal' life.

Thanks

 

They also all probably get (used to get, I suppose) some kind of income from the NR government because of their roles in the military during the Rebellion.

 

I'd imagine Han, Leia and Luke would each get a military pension ... Leia technically held the rank of general at the time of the Battle of Endor, and served for some time as representative of the displaced peoples of Alderaan. Also, didn't the Queen Mother of Hapes heap her with expensive gifts? Like, king's ransom expensive? Han was a general. Luke a commander (at least). Mara worked for the smugglers guild with the New Republic, so there may be a stipend there ...

EDIT: someone beat me to it!

Overall, though, we have NEVER seen these folks indulging much in personal luxuries. Luke and Mara especially would eschew such things as they try to rebuild the Jedi Order - and they're probably rebuilding it with whatever personal money they have. Han dumps most of his income into the Falcon - especially with the rebuilds he mentions needing in the near future ...

 

Thanks for your help very_superior and Jinnetics. Do you think they still get military pensions even though the NR has been replaced by the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances? I suppose the GFFA owes them for everything they did in the war with the Vong.

 

I suspect Luke has a very large group of philanthropists who make very large contributions to the Jedi cause. Whether he handles the paperwork or not is another matter, but I suspect that Alderaanian survivors, Caamasi, Noghri, etc. (basically anyone who had a beef with the Empire, a dark Jedi, essentially anyone Luke or the old Jedi ever fought) would make contributions on a more or less regular basis to his order.

Though I suspect that the contributions dried up from time to time, such as after the Almania incident, after Hand of Thrawn, and most especially after Coruscant's fall, basically any time that the Jedi and their allies failed to protect the galaxy at large.

 

I think it says in Shadows of the Empire (novel) that Vader was obscenely wealthy...perhaps when the Rebels seized imperial assets they gave his property to Luke + Leia?
Also, I would imagine that Mara is pretty well off, considering how good of a business woman she was.

 

Well, Luke got some support from the government for the academy. During the NJO (and before then, as well) Garm Bel Iblis was funneling money, supplies, and weapons of the Jedi, which becomes a subject of dispute in Star by Star. He also is a twice-retired general, and so he probably has a healthy pension. Like someone mentioned, he probably also has private backers.

Han has been a general, in and out of the service repeatedly, so he probably has a pension floating around. In EoV, Han complains to Jacen that his and Leia's pensions have probably been cancelled by the government because of their treasonous (I think that was the word) activities, and suggests taking up pirating to supplement their income.

As for Leia, there were many wealthy Alderaaneans still alive, and she wasn't doing too poorly during the rebellion. She was a rich princess after all, and a general, diplomat, ambassador, and chief of state, so she probably has more than a few pension checks coming in each month.

 

Leia might have had a trust fund kept safe somewhere. That in addition to military pensions, as someone mentioned earlier and income as a government employee even after her terms as Chief of State.

Luke probably got military pensions and he did attain the rank of General (Ditto for Han). Besides, his needs were minimal for a long time and I'm pretty sure that he and Mara probably didn't pay rent in the Imperial Palace before Coruscant went down. I'm sure they paid any bills they had. Could you imagine a bill collector having to call? "Um, Master Skywalker? Your com bill is 30 days past due. I'm afraid we're going to have to discontinue your service until it's paid."

 

For those of you who are thinking: "Does it really matter?", you're right because it doesn't.

I disagree. If we were to say it's just something to enjoy, who cares about the little details, then you'd be right. Yet it is those little details that help to flesh out the SW universe. And the more we flesh out the SW universe, the more there is to enjoy and the more there is to add just that much more realism to this fictional universe.

Hopefully most of us can tell the diference between the real world and a fictional universe. I'm fairly certain all of us in the forum can. But some folks have difficulty doing that, which brings into question why fictional universes should be made more realistic. For me, at least, the reason is that the more realisic a fictional universe becomes the easier it becomes to relate to characters in that universe. And the easier it is to relate, the more I enjoy the fictional universe.

As for the topic at hand, with the amount of time Leia served as a politician she probably built up quite a bit of money, which if she saved any of it would possibly she could live for a few short years off of what she made as long as she doesn't have to do any heavy spending. But there is also the possibility that as former Chief of State for the New Republic she would recieve a pension to live off of. I believe ex-presidents in this country recieve goverment pensions after they leave office, so it begins to make sense that it could be possible in the SW universe for folks like Leia and Mon Mothma to recieve a government pension.

Then we come to Mara and where she got her money. Yes, it's possible she has money left over from her days with Karrde. Karrde seems to have treated his people fairly, which could it possible for them to do something in ten to fifteen years a great many smugglers couldn't in a lifetime, retire with enough money to live off of. Yet there is also the question of exactly how much money Karrde's organization actually made, a question all smugglers face. While it is possible to make a lot through smuggling, there is always having to take on dangerous jobs, having to grease the palms of port masters and/or customs officals, worry about being arrested, the costs of upgrading ones ship, matienece costs, etc. All these things raise the difficulty for smugglers to retire unless they choose to go legit. Even though Karrde's organization would make more money than most smugglers, they would still be subject to all the same problems as other smugglers. So Mara might not have made enough with Karrde to live off of for very long. But then there is also the amount of time she spent between marrying Luke and taking Jaina on as her first apprentice. Supposedly she spent at least some of it with Mirax, but she could have been out making some money during that time as well.

Luke and Han most likely recieve a military pension. Even with the change in government somethings from the New Republic appear to have been kept in place. Both were generals when they first resigned their commision, Luke having been a general for a few months to a year when he did so. Yet both were recommissioned at least once. Luke returned as a commander, and each time Han was recommissioned it was as a general. So Han would undoubtedly recieve a general's pension. But the question is which pension would Luke recieve, a general's pension because he first resigned his commission as a general or a commander's pension because the second time he resigned he was a commander?

Han also acted from time to time as an agent for the New Republic diplomat. This would mean that he'd recieve payment from the New Republic for each assignment they sent him out on. Plus Han and Leia would be likely to have been seen as government agents towards the end of the NJO, resulting in the new government paying them for their services in the Vong War.

 

Well it's good to see that they are all well taken care of. Now I can stop worrying.

Knight1192: I disagree. If we were to say it's just something to enjoy, who cares about the little details, then you'd be right. Yet it is those little details that help to flesh out the SW universe. And the more we flesh out the SW universe, the more there is to enjoy and the more there is to add just that much more realism to this fictional universe.

I totally agree with you, and having it be more realistic makes me enjoy it more too. Which was why I asked the question. I guess. . .I just didn't want everyone to think that I was totally insane for caring about such a relatively unimportant detail. Well, I thought it was important.

 

Considering how seriously most of us discuss these things, I doubt most of us would have thought you even the least insane for being concerned about this. Still, it's nice you brought it up so it could be discussed.

 

Luke puts on a fake beard and mustache every few months and hits the casinos.

 

It's a legit question. Rogue Planet said the Jedi treasury had many billions, contributed by those citizens of the galaxy sympathetic to the Jedi.

Speculation, that could be where Vader got his magnificient wealth. Organa Solo is the leadership of the said galaxy, her income is obvious. As is Lando's, as is Solo's.

But how does Luke buy stuff? It's a legitimate question. And yes, while it's not of paramount importance, he's travelled extensively when not fighting with the Alliance, searching for Jedi info. Like in COPL, how he "searched 40 planets."

Landing fees costs money. Reprovisions cost money, as does food and parts and other travel expenses. The gov finances everything? I think not.

Curious though . . .

 

NR Intellagence funds them...

Using funds generated from spice smuggling, just like the good old CIA...

 

Luke would get money from Leia, Han, and Lando for sure.

And I'm sure when Leia was in power she made sure that Luke wasn't having troubles with funds.

Plus Luke wouldn't have spent much of the money he made when in the NR military, he retired a General so he would get a good pension.

Plus Luke would probably get a lot of free stuff. Planetary governments would probably wave taxes and stuff when the last of the Jedi appears and wants to come to land.

Maybe when the lars died Luke got a lot of money from their wills. THe Lars farm would have sold for a bit and since Luke would have no need to spend much with been in the military he would therefore save most of that money too.

 

Somewhere during the beginning of the NJO it was mentioned that the Solos relocated to a less expansive accomodation, since they have less money now with Leia out of the CoS bussiness.

Aside from that:
Leia held at all times up to the NJO a high political office -> income

Luke: During the first years he was probably a sort of special branch of the military, having free hand in gettng new X-Wings. Then the NR was led by Jedi friendly politicians, funding Yavin 4. Later some stuff (Like the XJ-Wing) came through the military or their contractors.

-dm

 

Han mentioned in AoC/EoV (forget which) that his finances had been confiscated... (EDIT: Back in Fey'lya's government, I mean; this illustrates he HAS finances)

 

Didn't Han once own an entire PLANET?? And didn't the "witches" bestow him with tons of gems when he gave it back to them?

 

It financed their wedding.

 

The solos probably got some of their money from selling their oppulent Coruscant apartment. In SbS, Viqi says that they'd moved from the very high class residence that they'd occupied at the time of the HoT duology to a much more modest apartment in a reigon where many Alderaan survivors had relocated to. Someone mentioned this above, but I was just adding some specifics.

As for Luke, I don't think that he paid for any of the ships that he ever used. Things like the E-Wing he had for the Black Fleet Crisis, for example. I forget the name, but someone in the government had insisted that even an officer who had resigned needed to have a combat ship and gave the E-Wing to him(which he very rudely dropped a castle on). The academy used the equipment left over from the time it was a Rebel base for the most part, and it didn't have much high tech anyways...

 

Maybe Lando gave them some?

 

Wherever Luke gets his money from, so do the rest of the Jedi. I'm guessing they're funded.

 

Mara could be wealthy from her time as a smuggler.

 

Lando seems to be the most successful of them. He's run many successful venture and Lando still feels he owns Han, Leia, and Luke for what he did in TESB. I bet gave them money or paid for things.

I think in a book it mentioned that Lando felt he could never repay them (Han especially) for what he did on Cloub City.