Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Retirement Plans

Yesterday the entertainment world was all abuzz when Amanda Bynes announced on Twitter that she’s retiring from the world of acting at the ripe old age of 24*.

24! Can you imagine? I honestly wonder what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. I applaud her for having the courage to admit that she’s unhappy with acting before she goes all crazy like Lindsey Lohan and ruins her reputation. I’d much rather remember her fondly as the cool girl from All That and the girl I wished I could be in What A Girl Wants (Confession: I still love that movie).

Somehow I just can’t picture her spending her working years as an accountant in Cubicle Land, USA. My guess is that she’ll end up writing/directing/producing somewhere down the road. Isn’t that what all retired actors do? And if she hasn’t wasted her money on drugs, crazy cars or houses that deserve their own zip codes, she probably has quite the little fortune for herself. All at the age of 24. Lucky duck.

So it got me thinking. If I had enough money to retire right now, what would I want to do with the rest of my life? I think I’d be bored to death if I didn’t have something to work toward every day. I would definitely feel useless, that’s for sure. So naturally, I’d have to figure out something to do with all my time (and money):

• Write a book, definitely in the chick lit genre (my guilty pleasure)
• Travel the world and write travel books for twenty-somethings
• Spend a significant amount of time volunteering abroad, starting in Tanzania
• Learn to play the violin, piano, flute, ukulele, guitar, harp, xylophone, etc
• Go back to school to learn everything. Yes, everything.
• Become a meteorologist. You know, just for fun.

What would you do?

*Sidenote: All her retirement tweets were posted between 4am – 6am. Hm. Do I smell an alcohol-induced publicity stunt?

9 comments:

Neurotic Workaholic said...

I wouldn't be surprised if she goes back to acting in the future, but maybe she's just burned out right now. If I could retire right now, I'd travel around the world too. I've spent most of my twenties working, and I haven't had the time or the money to travel. But I'd love to go someplace new and different if I could.

nmaha said...

I'm close to 30 and it doesn't seem like I can retire for the next 10 years, at a minimum.
If I did get the lucky chance to retire with oodles of cash, I'd build my dream house, start my own bookshop cum cafe and travel around the world with my family.

LaNeshe said...

She probably has a good enough reputation at this point to perhaps direct or produce down the road. She does have a lot of life left. I don't know what I'd do if I retired right now, being the same age as her. Maybe I'd be a full time blogger lol.

A.B. said...

The only times I'm awake from 4-6 is 1. intoxication. 2. insomnia. either way--those thoughts often seem so clear and elusive.

I'd travel. ANd write. And visit friends. And buy pretty things.

Freck said...

This is great. I wondered what the heck she's going to do as well. I think I'd do arts and crafts for the rest of my life :)

Kelsey said...

maybe she'll get a real world job now! or she might be like every other actor who "retires" and just go into directing

Anonymous said...

Maybe she's trying to pull a Jay-Z where he retires every few years, only to come back bigger and better!

TRAVEL--that would be my one and only goal after retirement. Travel and write--ahh the life!

Unknown said...

I think everyone deserves to retire gracefully. Like my grandma after her fantastic Euro tour, she decided to live in one of the nicest retirement communities in Charlotte, NC. As for me, if I have to retire right now and have the money to spend, I'm going to travel and visit places I've never gone to and just enjoy life.

I applaud Amanda Bynes for being so brave, she's ready to leave the life of fame and try new things. Thanks for sharing your insights. Good for her. Well,it was great reading your post. Thanks for sharing.

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