What to do if 401K below $1,000

[Zillionaire]

Well, I don't want to cash my 401K but the policy said that it'll automatically distribute to employee when he/she no longer work there.

Look at this company's stock TXT - Textron Inc. - Google Finance . Do you think they'll survive?

[Broken Arrow]

Welcome back Zillionaire. I vaguely remember that you work for Textron right?

I don't know what the details are regarding your 401(k), but when necessary, you can always roll that money over to an IRA....

As I'm sure you already know, the aircraft industry in general has been hurting badly, and chances are good that the pain will continue. Both Boeing and Airbus have seen their orders get delayed and even cancelled. I am assuming that this sort of turbulence is being experienced throughout the entire aviation sector, and will probably continue to be this way for the next few years....

I took the liberty of taking a look at the fundamentals and analyst report for TXT, and to be perfectly honest, it doesn't look good.... Textron basically has a lot of debt obligations that it's going to have a hard time meeting, especially with the slowdown in aircraft sales. Its current credit rating is BBB+, which will hamper the company's ability to meet its debts even more. The drop in current market value to below $1 billion may also be a problem in securing loans as well....

What I also find a bit perplexing is that, despite these facts, the on-going balance sheet for current 2009 is rosy as ever. Way more so than even back in 2007, during its high. Perhaps I am being cynical here, but this reeks of fancy accounting to me. Do you know why there might have been huge expenditures back in 2007? Otherwise, it's a red flag when a balance sheet does not jive with reality.

Bottom line is, from the perspective of an amateur stock buyer, I would never buy this stock. A troubled industry, huge debt obligations, and a dubious balance sheet means Stay Away for me.

On the other hand, that doesn't necessarily mean you should worry, coming from the perspective of an engineer working at Textron. While that isn't something that I can comment on, I would definitely at least have a Plan B in place, in case things do fall through from under you.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news (or at least negative personal opinion), but I hope that it will somehow help you be more survivable in the tough times ahead....