5 investing myths debunked

One can barely listen to a news or talk radio station without hearing commercials for investing in gold.

"A lot of them are selling to peoples' fears and selling to their greed by overstating without necessarily telling the whole story," says Michael Masiello, owner of Masiello and Associates, a financial planning firm in Rochester, N.Y. "There is no question that physical tangible assets have some value in most clients' portfolios."

Many advisers do recommend that investors hold gold and other commodities in their portfolios because they typically tend to have a low correlation with other asset classes. For example, when the stock market is going up, the value of gold may be going down or doing nothing -- or vice versa.

"There is nothing wrong with having a portion of your portfolio in hard assets, but if the world really ends or the dollar crashes, you're not going to want gold. You're going to want a gun," says Laura.