Last week, Phil Mickelson dominated the headlines after an excerpt from an upcoming book was released, revealing that he allegedly bet nearly $1 billion throughout the last three decades, losing about $100 million.<br /><br />With the benefit of hindsight, let's examine what Mickelson's financial situation would be if he had chosen to invest in stocks rather than gambling.<br /><br />For the purpose of this exercise, we will use the $100 million figure that Mickelson reportedly lost gambling. Starting in 1993, the S&P 500’s average annualized return is about 9.9%.
