Liane, I'm not sure that's 100% true. I think you can withdrawal your contributions at any time without a problem, but if you withdraw any "earnings" then you get hit with a penalty of 10%. If you think about it, you're probably going to pay more tax through the holding of your personal shares than the ones held through your Roth after pulling it out and subjecting it to a penalty (cap gains rates can be as high as 23.8%). Not that I am suggesting doing that...as once that money is out, you can't get it back in...but I am just saying that you can take money out...and even if you have to take earnings out...the 10% hit isn't really that bad. That said, I assume you started contributing more than 5 years ago. See below:

http://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/IRA_Roth.moneymag/index5.htm

There's state and local tax I haven't touched on that may apply. Discuss this with your tax advisor before relying on it. :)