DEAR READER: Unfortunately, in today's world, interest rates have fallen to the point where they are almost nonexistent, so turning this money into something that you can live on for many more years may not be possible. There's no place a person can invest where the money can "remain accessible" and still give a reasonable return on investment without penalty. Unless you are prepared to take substantial risk, which could result in a capital loss, the unhappy fact is that you will have to settle for a relatively modest return on investment -- which is nowhere near enough to fund a retirement in such a short period of time.