Ask HN: $5000, 18 months. How do I get the best return?

Depends on your skill.

What are you good at? Programming, invest some personal time and get a webapp or a recurring income stream.. Would be my 2 cents.

5000 ain't that much to be honest.. But 18 months is a long time to finish an app and get recurring revenue from it.

Give it to me, I'll take care of it.

But seriously, index fund. Sorry — not sexy.

Like pretty much anything, the answer is "it depends".

CDs, index funds, an IRA, individual stocks, etc., are all options. Your decision will largely depend on how much risk you're willing to assume.

More risk, better returns:

-Hedge funds or hedge bitcoin.

-Find someone in need and offer them a $5k loan for 10% interest, payable in 18 months.

-Bet on Black.

It's all about risk. The roulette table will give you a 100% return in 10 seconds. It's very risky though...