Client Ratings
Verified Client Reviews
The following reviews are based on experiences from Scarborough Capital Management current clients. Feedback was collected by Amplify Reviews, and no compensation was provided to clients. The ratings and comments reflect each client's own views and opinions, and there are no known conflicts of interest. All ratings are included in the overall rating and all comments are published unless they meet one or more of our exclusion criteria.
Gregory Ostrowski CFP®, ChFC®, CRPC®, BFA™
About Greg
Greg Ostrowski is a Managing Partner at Scarborough Capital Management, which Forbes has recognized as one of America’s Top RIA Firms in 2023, 2024, and 2025. Over more than two decades at Scarborough, Greg has helped corporate employees, federal workers, and retirees navigate the most consequential financial decisions of their lives — when to retire, what to do with a 401(k) when leaving an employer, whether to take a pension buyout, when to claim Social Security, and how to turn decades of savings into income that lasts.
Greg works most often with clients between age 50 and 70 who are within a decade of retirement or already there. Many came to Scarborough years earlier through the firm’s workplace plan management service — a 401(k), 403(b), or Thrift Savings Plan — and stayed with Greg through the transition into the wealth management phase of their financial lives. As a CFP®, ChFC®, CRPC®, and Behavioral Financial Advisor™, Greg pairs technical expertise with behavioral coaching, because the biggest risk to most retirement plans isn’t the market — it’s the decisions people make when the market gets loud.
What kinds of conversations do clients typically come to you for?
Most of my work centers on the years just before and just after retirement — what I think of as the most financially consequential stretch of someone’s life. That usually means questions like: Can I actually afford to retire? Should I take the lump sum or the monthly pension? How do I roll my 401(k) over without making a tax mistake? When should I claim Social Security? How do I make this money last?
Our team has built deep familiarity with the plans at major employers — General Motors, AT&T, and many others — and we’ve done hundreds of pension buyout analyses over the years. When someone walks in with a buyout offer from their employer, we can usually model their specific situation with real precision because we’ve seen the same plan dozens of times.
What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned from your clients?
That the best financial plans aren’t really about the numbers — they’re about giving people the confidence to live the lives they actually want. I’ve worked with clients through market crashes, recessions, a pandemic, and two decades of news cycles that all seemed urgent at the time. The clients who thrive are the ones who had a plan they understood and an advisor they trusted enough to call before doing something they’d regret. That’s the job.
What’s your approach to managing money for someone near retirement?
Protect first, grow second. The closer you are to retirement, the less time you have to recover from a major loss — so the strategy has to reflect that reality. I build diversified portfolios designed to hold up through market cycles, and I explain everything in plain English. Nobody should be invested in something they can’t describe to their spouse over breakfast.
What professional accomplishments make you most proud?
Four of our five partners started at Scarborough as interns in the late 1990s. We’ve grown up in this business together, weathered every kind of market environment, and built something that’s earned the trust of thousands of clients across the country. Being recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Top RIA Firms three years running is meaningful — but what I’m most proud of is the partnership and the longevity of the team that got us there.
How do you give back to the community?
I serve on the board of the Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center Foundation and on the Parish Finance Council at St. Mary’s Annapolis. I spent eleven years on the Alumni Association board at St. Mary’s Annapolis as well — Annapolis is home, and it’s a privilege to be useful to it.
What are your personal interests and passions?
Family, making ideas happen, cycling, wakeboarding, and Orioles baseball.
Education & Designations:
- Villanova University, BS, Finance and International Business
- CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®)
- Chartered Financial Consultant® (ChFC®)
- Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor℠ (CRPC®)
- Behavioral Financial Advisor™ (BFA™)
Registration & Licenses:
- FINRA Series 7 & Series 66
- Life and Health Insurance Licensed
Career Highlights:
- Scarborough Capital Management named to Forbes’ America’s Top RIA Firms (2023, 2024, 2025)
- Named a “Five Star Wealth Manager” in Baltimore Magazine (2013, 2014, 2016–Present)*
- Forbes.com Contributor (2016–Present)
- Member, Forbes Finance Council (2016–Present)
- Annapolis’ Finest Honoree, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (2014)
*Updated Five Star Disclosure: This award was issued on 01/01/2026 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period 04/10/2025 through 10/01/2025. Fee paid for use of marketing materials. Self-completed questionnaire was used for rating. This rating is not related to the quality of the investment advice and based solely on the disclosed criteria. 2446 Baltimore-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 217 (9 % of candidates) were named 2026 Five Star Wealth Managers. The following prior year statistics use this format: YEAR: # Considered, # Winners, % of candidates, Issued Date, Research Period. 2025: 2,389, 254, 11%, 1/1/25, 4/10/24 – 10/31/24; 2024: 2,149, 259, 12%, 1/1/24, 4/10/23 – 10/31/23; 2023: 2126, 256, 12%, 1/1/23, 4/18/22 – 10/21/22; 2022: 2078, 260, 13%, 1/1/22, 5/10/21 – 11/12/21; 2021: 2029, 237, 12%, 1/1/21, 4/27/20 – 10/30/20; 2020: 1898, 234, 12%, 1/1/20, 4/1/19 – 11/13/19; 2019: 1865, 265, 14%, 1/1/19, 4/19/18 – 11/7/18; 2018: 1759, 232, 13%, 1/1/18, 4/21/17 – 11/6/17; 2017: 1093, 355, 32%, 12/1/16, 3/26/16 – 11/11/16; 2016: 1215, 356, 29%, 12/1/15, 6/16/15 – 11/9/15; 2015: 1749, 412, 24%, 1/1/15, 6/16/14 – 11/9/14; 2014: 1484, 395, 27%, 1/1/14, 6/16/13 – 11/9/13; 2013: 1490, 448, 30%, 1/1/13, 6/16/12 – 11/9/12; 2012: 1470, 262, 18%, 1/1/12, 6/16/11 – 11/9/11. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser (RIA) or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a RIA or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. Visit www.fivestarprofessional.com.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
The ChFC® is the property of The American College of Financial Services, which reserves sole rights to its use, and is used by permission.
