Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why giving to others can give you a boost too. Hosted by Frances Cook.

This podcast focuses a lot on how to fix your finances, but once you've got yourself sorted, should you be helping others?

Well, yes.

For starters, nobody succeeds purely on their own. Even when you work hard, there's usually some sort of family support, or a workplace taking a chance on you, or a social scheme that helps you get ahead.

So once you're doing well, it's a good idea to pay it back and help out others who are just starting.

But if you want to be really cynical about it, it turns out you might be one of the biggest benefactors when you decide to give back.

Apparently our brains quite enjoy when we decide to be charitable.

For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to University of Auckland psychology lecturer Dr Sarah Cowie.

We discussed what we get from giving to others, whether there's a difference in giving time or money, and how to vet charities to make sure your money goes further.

If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/ Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/ and Twitter here https://twitter.com/FrancesCook