What are some great ways to invest money to see a good return in about a year/couple of years?

Disregard that last well meaning answer. There are two parts to your question. The first is where are some greate ways to invest money. The second is to see a good return in a couple of years. The second constrains the first.

The problem is that equity mutual funds (of which Vanguard is a great provider) are really decade or longer investments. The market is very high right now in absolute terms. The odds of making a great return in a few years is pretty low. About the only thing that can give you a good return in a few years with any margin of safety is a certificate of deposit.

I did a search on bankrate monitor. The two best rates are at AMTrust in Cleveland, Ohio, with a yield of 5.00% for a two year investment. A $1000 investment would yield a total value of $1102.50 ignoring taxes at maturity. Slightly lower, Pacific Mercantile Bank is offering a yield of 4.92% per year in Costa Mesa, California.

If you wanted a one year CD, Corus Bank in Chicago is offering a 4.94% annual yield for its one year CD.

If you lift the constraint of a year or two to a more indefinite horizon and would include equity mutual funds. I would recommend the following funds, Mutual Financial Services Z (symbol TEFAX) only warning is that it is very globally diversified, Fairholme (FAIRX), American Century Value Inv (ACTIX), BB&T Large Company Val I(BBISX). You can buy these from discount brokers. In BB&T's case, you can go into their branch and purchase it. TD Waterhouse is reasonable in terms of purchase costs and you may be able to purchase directly from the funds. Check each out online to see if they offer direct purchase.

They take different risks, but you should avoid too much grief in any of them and over time you should do reasonably well. A combination of them might be in your interest if your time frame is long. You should presume you will not do well in the next few years however.

Vangard has several mutual funds and is a great company with low fees. Look them up on the net.