yea the 3k thing sounds really manipulative, if your dad wants to give you a gift of 3k then he should just do that, but gifts don't really have strings (and what weird strings, that your investments must be profitable within 18 months, AS IF that was even in one's control, investments aren't always profitable - in fact sometimes pretty much none of them are as the markets are down - if the bond or stock or whatever market is up and one's fund is still losing money it might be a bad fund but so what, get out of it perhaps, but who hasn't made a dumb investment if they have ever invested anything?).
If he wanted something sure not to lose money then T-Bills

. But as is it's just a weird manipulative gift with strings that is disempowering and reduces one to a child.