Suppose a client, age 62, has $1 million in a retirement savings account and wants to know how much can be withdrawn each year for income. If a planner assumes a historical rate of return of eight percent on the investment assets, the planner may suggest $90,000 a year in withdrawals which should last for 30 years. However, if the client experiences negative returns during the first three to four years after retiring, then retirement savings will be depleted in less than ten years. By conducting Monte Carlo analysis, the planner may determine that there is a 20 percent probability of running out of money within ten years of retiring. Then appropriate steps can be taken to adjust the annual withdrawal amount to decrease the probability of running out of money to a more tolerable level.