Can I take money out of my 401k gradually during retirement?

Yes, if your employer’s 401k plan allows “partial distributions” in retirement. Many 401k plans however, allow only “lump sum” distributions, which means that you must remove your entire balance when you want to remove any money. Remember also that when you take money out of your account that you should roll any money you don’t need immediately, into an IRA account… otherwise if you deposit to your checking account, you may have a large tax bill that year, if it was a traditional (i.e. not Roth) balance, since whatever amount is put into a non-IRA account is treated by the IRS as income in that year.