Ask HN: Cheap Assets and how HN invests their money

A lot of focus here on HN is increasing income through startups, consulting, etc and I've learned a lot about this from HN. Now I'm curious how you smart folks invest your money or grow your money (through assets, stocks, rental properties, and the like...)

I can't seem to find much in the way of small assets (thinking a few thousand dollars or so) that provides dividends or grows in value other than stocks. Stocks make me nervous because generally speaking they seem overpriced and I imagine that the specialists have grabbed most of the deals.

Thanks!