[Kanbab]

$500,000 isn't too much. You would be fortunate if you can turn the $500,000 into $5000/mo in income, thereby covering all of your current monthly expenses. Once you have all that free time, you'll probably want to start spending more money though.

You can earn the 12% a year by investing wisely in rental properties. That would be 12% in net income, which doesn't include any future appreciation (or decline in price). To achieve those numbers, you will most likely want to buy your rentals with a mortgage, so I hope you have a W-2 or other steady taxed income for the last 2 years, because thats what you'll need to qualify for most loans, but not all.

By leveraging your $500,000, you can buy $2,000,000 worth of assets in real estate. YMMV.