Once you are no longer employed, you can roll it over into an IRA. Then you can withdraw from the IRA, where you pay less penalties for doing so. You can also choose any amount. You can leave some in the IRA. When I was let go, I just opened the rollover IRA with the company that oversaw my 401k (Fidelity). It took about 30 seconds online. Hope this helps a bit and good luck!