• Patty Blue Hayes moved to Panama from California to save money as she approached retirement.

• However, she's struggled to find remote roles after losing her main source of income last year.

• 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 approached retirement age, but unemployment is thwarting her plans.

Hayes moved from San Luis Obispo, California to El Valle de Anton, Panama, a town 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 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 Business Insider.

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, she said her program was effectively discontinued. Hayes, who has a bachelor's degree in communications, said she's been applying for jobs related to writing coaching, customer or client success, school admissions, and tutoring but hasn'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 has 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.