- Patty Blue Hayes moved to Panama from California to save money as she approached retirement.
- But she's struggled to find remote roles after losing her main source of income last year.
- She said side hustles such as Airbnb, YouTube, and self-publishing had helped her pay the bills.
Patty Blue Hayes, 60, moved to Panama from California to save money as she approached retirement age, but unemployment is thwarting her plans.
Hayes moved from San Luis Obispo to El Valle de Anton, a town in central Panama, in 2019. She thought Spanish — the country's official language — would be fairly easy to learn and chose the country because it used the US dollar and was "much more affordable" than California, she said. An analysis previously shared with Business Insider by the personal-finance site GOBankingRates ranked California third in a list of the most expensive states to retire.
Hayes also hoped that living in Panama would make her money go further during her retirement years.
"I was 55 and knew that my income wasn't going to be sufficient as I got older and eventually retired," Hayes told BI.
Hayes is among the Americans who have moved abroad in search of lower costs of living as they approach or enter retirement. As of December 2023, about 650,000 Americans age 65 or older were receiving Social Security benefits abroad, according to the most recently available data from the Social Security Administration. In 2003, that number was roughly 352,000.
When Hayes moved to Panama, she was an independent contractor who offered communication and leadership coaching for a professional training company. But near the end of 2022, she said, her client list started to dwindle as her employer scaled back her program and prioritized other forms of coaching. In 2023, after the company was acquired, her program was effectively discontinued, she said. Hayes, who has a bachelor's degree in communications, said she'd been applying for jobs related to writing coaching, customer or client success, school admissions, and tutoring but hadn't had much luck.
"It really gets so discouraging when I spend so much time on applications and nothing comes of it," she said, adding, "Looking for work has been demoralizing."
Age and demand for remote roles add to job-search struggles
Hayes is also among the people who've struggled to find work over the past year as some companies have scaled back hiring.
She said her only income had come from a guest house she rents in Panama through Airbnb, her YouTube channel where she shares content about her life abroad, some self-published book sales via Amazon, and referral fees tied to leads she gave a real-estate broker.
While this income has been helpful, Hayes said, it hasn't been sufficient. She said she'd accumulated roughly $13,000 in credit-card debt since the middle of 2022.
Hayes plans to start taking Social Security when she turns 62 but doesn't think it will be enough to live on. She hopes to avoid dipping into her retirement savings until she turns 70.
This is why she's continued to search for jobs. She estimated that she'd applied to at least 150 jobs over the past year through Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, and other platforms.
Hayes said her job search had been difficult for several reasons. First, she's only been applying for remote roles, which are in high demand. Additionally, she hasn't applied for a work permit in Panama because she doesn't speak fluent Spanish and believes that would hinder her ability to land a high-paying job.
What's more, she doesn't have robust networking connections and only joined LinkedIn in the past year, she said. She also has some concerns that her age is working against her.
Going forward, Hayes plans to continue looking for work but is spending more time trying to grow her YouTube channel while self-publishing books, which she hopes can be a source of income if her job search doesn't pan out, she said. She also hopes to find individual clients for her coaching work. While she's uncertain when she'll be able to retire, she's optimistic about her financial situation.
"Overall, I feel very fortunate, and I'm confident the finances will shift," she said, adding, "I'll just be very relieved when the money flows so I can pay off this credit card."
Has the economy affected the way you view or experience work? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.