Victor J. Medina was a successful professional in Boston doing corporate law when a family member called with a question: a loved one had died, leaving behind questions with the estate, and Medina was a lawyer. Could he help?
It turned out that he could. Not only that, but he also found that he enjoyed the work of estate planning more than mergers and acquisitions. He changed his focus, got certified as a financial planner, and has been helping people with their estates ever since.
Medina, a native of Fairfield County, Connecticut, has been working in Pennington for 10 years, first as a partner with seasoned lawyer Robert Martinez, and later on his own as founder and managing attorney of Medina Law Group, in Howe Commons. Now he’s extending his reach by starting up a radio show, “Make it Last with Victor Medina,” on WCTC 1450 AM out of New Brunswick.
Medina gives legal and financial advice on the show, which airs Saturday mornings at 7:30 a.m. “Drawing on my experience as both an attorney and adviser, we will help keep listeners’ legal ducks in a row and financial nest egg secure,” Medina says.
Medina says that because he is the “child of four educators” — his parents, both educators, divorced with both later remarrying teachers — teaching people comes naturally to him.
Over the years, he’s done lots of seminars, but they only give him the opportunity to talk to 20 to 40 people at a time. With the radio show he hopes to be able to reach a wider audience. The first show aired on April 15.
Shows are recorded in the WCTC studios. Since they aren’t broadcast live, Medina doesn’t take calls, but he does sometimes have guests. The guest for the June 3 episode, for example, will be lawyer Anna Byrne, author of the recently published book A Widow’s Guide: Your Legal and Financial Guide to Surviving the First Year.
Medina is also an author, having self published two books: Make It Last: How to Get, and Keep, Your Legal Ducks in a Row and Make It Last: Ensuring Your Nest Egg is Around As Long As You Are. He often uses content from the books as basis for the show.
“It has been fun,” Medina says. “I’ve found myself wanting to go longer and deeper into each one of the subjects I cover. It energizes me to keep doing shows.” he says he already has the first half year of episodes planned out.
Medina didn’t have any experience doing radio before starting up the show, but that doesn’t mean he’s a stranger to performing. For the past 10 years he’s been a member of Jersey Transit A Cappella Ensemble. The group, which has been around for 25 years, was recently in Evanston, Illinois for the American A Cappella Alliance’s annual Spring Sing.
Medina received his law degree from Northeastern University Law School in Boston, which he attended on a scholarship. He also clerked for Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Connecticut.
He lives with his family on South Main Street in Pennington. Wife Jennifer grew up in Manalapan and is a psychologist for a local school district. Their children are Aidan, 13, who attends The Pennington School; Lucas, 10, who is in the STEM program at Bear Tavern Elementary; and Dylan, 4.
For those who are busy or aren’t up early on Saturday mornings, episodes of the show are available as podcasts on iTunes and TuneIn Radio immediately after each show airs. wctcam.com and jerseyestateplanning.com.
Victor J. Medina,
