According to Harvard Business Review :- *research proves that the more help a person receives, the more likely that person is to help someone else (Baker and Bulkley) and that helping others will make it more likely that they themselves will receive help. And that is what we will be talking about today at our ‘Giving Back’ and ‘Paying it Forward’ podcast.

Have you ever heard the saying 'live each day as if it's your last'? Have you thought about what your last day would be like? To many of us this would be a challenging thought as we currently might not know what it is that we’ve lived for and what we're going to leave behind in terms of our legacy. In today's podcast, we will talk about Legacy.

Education (or learning) is part of our human existence; As babies in the womb, we begin learning language from our mother, we learn early after birth that our caregivers will usually meet our needs if we behave in certain ways, then through play as a toddler our cognitive skills develop. By the time we enter more formal schooling around 5 years of age, the essential skills and knowledge that are necessary for literacy and numeracy get taught and as time goes on we learn things to help us operate within society, and more. Even though we might choose to leave formal education anytime from secondary school onwards, our learning doesn’t conclude then. In fact, lifelong learning is precisely that – it goes on throughout your life and you’re learning right up until the day that your brain fails you.

As I’m now over 50, I realise how important it is to consider my financial situation beyond the age of about 65 years. Until now, my contributions to Superannuation since beginning work 30 years ago, haven’t registered high on my radar of ‘important things to bother about’ based on my attention being elsewhere. Now however, I really can see that by spending a bit of time ensuring I have things sorted in this domain, the course of my future and my standard of living will be greatly aided.

Maybe you’re wondering if/when you can retire. You may be asking yourself bigger questions like, ‘When will it be right for me?’, ‘When can I afford to retire?’, ‘What will I do when I retire?’, ‘How much should I have put away in super for retirement?’ etcetra. I intend to cover both full retirement and semi-retirement in this podcast.

One of the main reasons I started looking at new options for my career path around the age of 50 was because I think we should keep expanding our mind and body well into our senior years. by adapting our experience, skills and knowledge etc., we'll be able to broaden our world and life opportunities in such a way that it brings us better health and greater happiness.

Following your passions once Over 50, is very important because up until this time in your adult life you’ve probably been on a treadmill of working, raising family and/or pets, selflessly giving to others more than to yourself, and generally not having the time to pursue your own personal interests. So what are you waiting for? Follow your PASSION to do the things you LOVE. It will raise your happiness level and energy, providing you with endless self-satisfaction and learning opportunities.

This topic is very close to many of our hearts, especially if we are Mums and Dads. As parents, most of us regard this responsibility and role as one of the most important in our lives. Eighteen years ago when I became a Mum for the first time, I was very excited at the prospect and felt a real honour at being given the opportunity to help mould another human life and love and protect them. I got to rear two babies – one girl and one boy, and I now have one young adult and one late teen. The experience I’ve had would be comparable to many others and has been highlighted with highs and lows, though nothing too scary or unmanageable. Listen to the full 'Make It Count' Raising Children/Parenting podcast TODAY!

As a post-50-year-old woman I have specific areas of my health on my radar as I traverse the early stages of hormone changes and the progression towards that ‘wonderful’ phase of life known as menopause. From my understanding to date, lots of changes occur to a woman’s body around this time such as weight fluctuations, mood changes, physiological differences such as hot flushes, and many and varied other ‘not-so-fun’ experiences. Listen to the full 'Make It Count' Valuing your Health podcast TODAY!

So what’s happiness? Happiness is more than experiencing just a smile or a laugh, it’s a full-body experience. I chose this topic first because to me it's the most important. If you're not happy then you're not in your best 'space' (if you ask me). We all know that you can’t be constantly happy, after all we’re human and by nature will experience fluctuations in mood and temperament. However, if you're not experiencing a good amount of happiness in your life then … what's life about. We all have different preferences for how we find happiness or how much happiness we need or want, but for me it's all important ... I desire loads of happiness in my life. Listen to the full 'Make It Count' Happiness podcast TODAY!