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Patty Blue Hayes moved to Panama from California to save money when she retired.
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However, she has struggled to find remote positions after losing her main source of income last year.
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She said side hustles like Airbnb, YouTube and self-publishing have helped her pay the bills.
Patty Blue Hayes, 60, moved to Panama from California to save money as she neared retirement age, but unemployment thwarted her plans.
Hayes moved from San Luis Obispo, California to El Valle de Anton, Panama, a city in central Panama, in 2019. Hayes 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. An analysis previously shared with BI by personal finance site GOBankingRates ranked California third in a list of the most expensive states in which to retire.
Hayes also hoped that living in Panama would further benefit her money during her retirement years.
“I was 55 and knew my income wouldn’t be enough as I got older and eventually retired,” Hayes told Business Insider.
Hayes is among Americans who have moved abroad in search of a lower cost of living as they approach or enter retirement. About 650,000 Americans age 65 or older were receiving Social Security benefits abroad as of December 2023, according to the most recently available data from the Social Security Administration. In 2003, that number was approximately 352,000.
When Hayes moved to Panama, she was an independent contractor offering communications and leadership coaching for a professional training company. But by the end of 2022, she said her client list began to dwindle as her employer scaled back her program and prioritized other forms of coaching. In 2023, after the company was acquired, she said her program was effectively shut down. Hayes, who has a bachelor’s degree in communications, said she has applied for jobs related to writing coaching, customer or client success, college admissions and tutoring, but hasn’t had much luck.
“It gets really discouraging when I spend so much time applying for jobs and nothing comes of it,” she said, adding, “The job search is demoralizing.”
Hayes is also among those who have struggled to find work over the past year as some companies have reduced their workforce.
She said her only income comes from a guest house she rents in Panama through Airbnb, her YouTube channel where she shares content about her life abroad, a number of self-published books through Amazon, and referral fees tied to leads she gave to a property. broker.
