Aubree invested $\$ 500$ into a mutual fund that paid 3\% interest each year compounded annually. Find the value of the mutual fund in 12 years.

Step 1 ：The problem is asking for the future value of an investment given the principal amount, the interest rate, and the time period. The formula for compound interest is: \(A = P(1 + \frac{r}{n})^{nt}\) where: \(A\) is the amount of money accumulated after n years, including interest, \(P\) is the principal amount (the initial amount of money), \(r\) is the annual interest rate (in decimal), \(n\) is the number of times that interest is compounded per year, and \(t\) is the time the money is invested for in years.

Step 2 ：In this case, the principal amount (\(P\)) is $500, the annual interest rate (\(r\)) is 3% or 0.03 in decimal form, the number of times that interest is compounded per year (\(n\)) is 1 (since it's compounded annually), and the time (\(t\)) is 12 years.

Step 3 ：Substitute the given values into the formula: \(A = 500(1 + \frac{0.03}{1})^{1*12}\)

Step 4 ：Solving the equation gives the future value of the investment. The result is approximately $712.88.

Step 5 ：Final Answer: The value of the mutual fund in 12 years will be approximately \(\boxed{712.88}\).