re: How would you invest 25k?

Its really up to you man. If you ask here you might as well be asking on bogleheads bc they're gonna tell you to index it, and sure that's an awesome level of safety but it's ultimately your money and if you have the balls and desire why not go after your instincts and give a whirl at some company you feel has a shot at growing?

I personally don't index, never have, never will, not knocking those who do, but I'm a dividend growth investor, I seek out companies whose yield has grown annually over a certain amount of years. I use dividata.com to do my homework, and I suggest you do the same, buying SPY is so blah.