- Patty Blue Hayes moved to Panama from California to economize as she approached retirement.
- However, she’s struggled to search out distant roles after shedding her most important supply of revenue final 12 months.
- She mentioned aspect hustles like Airbnb, YouTube, and self-publishing have helped her pay the payments.
Patty Blue Hayes, 60, moved to Panama from California to economize as she approached retirement age, however unemployment is thwarting 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 nation’s official language — can be pretty simple to be taught and selected the nation as a result of it used the US greenback and was “way more inexpensive” than California. An evaluation beforehand shared with BI by the non-public finance web site GOBankingRates ranked California third in a listing of the most costly states to retire.
Hayes additionally hoped that dwelling in Panama would make her cash go additional throughout her retirement years.
“I used to be 55 and knew that my revenue wasn’t going to be ample as I acquired older and finally retired,” Hayes instructed Business Insider.
Hayes is among the many Americans who’ve moved overseas in quest of decrease prices of dwelling as they method or enter retirement. As of December 2023, about 650,000 Americans age 65 or older have been receiving Social Security advantages overseas, in line with essentially the most not too long ago obtainable information from the Social Security Administration. In 2003, that quantity was roughly 352,000.
When Hayes moved to Panama, she was an unbiased contractor who supplied communication and management teaching for knowledgeable coaching firm. But close to the top of 2022, she mentioned her shopper checklist began to dwindle as her employer scaled again her program and prioritized different types of teaching. In 2023, after the corporate was acquired, she mentioned her program was successfully discontinued. Hayes, who has a bachelor’s diploma in communications, mentioned she’s been making use of for jobs associated to writing teaching, buyer or shopper success, college admissions, and tutoring however hasn’t had a lot luck.
“It actually will get so discouraging after I spend a lot time on functions and nothing comes of it,” she mentioned, including, “Looking for work has been demoralizing.”
Age and demand for distant roles add to job-search struggles
Hayes can be among the many individuals who’ve struggled to search out work over the previous 12 months as some corporations have scaled again hiring.
She mentioned her solely revenue has come from a visitor home she rents in Panama by way of Airbnb, her YouTube channel the place she shares content material about her life overseas, some self-published e-book gross sales by way of Amazon, and referral charges tied to leads she gave an actual property dealer.
While this revenue has been useful, Hayes mentioned it hasn’t been ample. She mentioned that she’s collected roughly $13,000 in bank card debt because the center of 2022.
Hayes mentioned she plans to start out taking Social Security when she turns 62, however that she would not assume it will likely be sufficient to stay on. She hopes to keep away from dipping into her retirement financial savings till she turns 70.
This is why she’s continued to seek for jobs. She estimated that she’s utilized to a minimum of 150 jobs over the previous 12 months by way of Indeed, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, and different platforms.
Hayes mentioned her job search has been troublesome for a number of causes. First, she’s solely been making use of for distant roles, that are in excessive demand. Additionally, she hasn’t utilized for a piece allow in Panama as a result of she would not converse fluent Spanish and believes that might hinder her means to land a high-paying job.
What’s extra, she mentioned she would not have strong networking connections and solely joined LinkedIn up to now 12 months. She additionally has some issues that her age is working in opposition to her.
Going ahead, Hayes mentioned she plans to proceed on the lookout for work however is spending extra time making an attempt to develop her YouTube channel whereas self-publishing books, which she hopes generally is a supply of revenue if her job search would not pan out. She additionally hopes to search out particular person shoppers for her teaching work. While she’s unsure when she’ll have the ability to retire, she mentioned she’s optimistic about her monetary state of affairs.
“Overall, I really feel very lucky and I’m assured the funds will shift,” she mentioned, including, “I’ll simply be very relieved when the cash flows so I can repay this bank card.”
Has the economic system affected the way in which you view or expertise work? If so, attain out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.
