I own a hard money lending business and I have about 50% of my NW in this business.
It's unclear to me if you are beginning to lend hard money, i.e to borrowers or if you are lending to someone like me who then lends the money. All I will say is that there are 472 different ways to lose money in this business, if you are lending directly to the borrowers. And about 63 different ways to lose money if you are lending money/investing with the hard money lender.
I lost about 20% of my portfolio value in the 08-09 great recession. My 'lenders' lost nothing and received all their interest as it was due.
But, at least 70% of my colleagues that lend money, ended up in default with their investors.
So, yes, hard money lending is a great return, but is not safe like a CD. It's a different asset class.
If you are going to lend money to someone like me and it's only 10% of your NW. I'd be ok with that. But I'd much more prefer you to have 2-4 different lenders you are lending money to, so that you are more diversified within this asset class.
If you are lending money directly to investors that own the house, I'd be ok with that, but just start slowly. The beauty of this business is you can start with a 25-100K loan. Learn the process and figure out the 472 different ways you can lose money so that you can start dealing with those problems up front and have a way to mitigate potential losses. Then, as you feel more comfortable, you can ramp up the money you have invested.. But ramp very slowly.