5K dollars is a good amount for investing Ethereum. It's still the most time-tested and perspective coin among all the alts. I also like Dot, Lite and Stellar. You can try some of these coins. But don't listen to those traders who say: Ripple is the best. Most of my friends, who trade Ripple, got scammed
Your friends are not the only ones who lost money trading Ripple! But I believe in Dot too, it's a new coin and project, but I think it's very promising.