Withdrawing the principle of a Roth IRA penalty and tax free

[Mathew Fuller]

When I first learned about Roth Ira's, It was to my understanding that the principal that I invested into the Roth IRA account (my already taxed income), was able to be withdrawn at any time tax and penalty free. What I couldn't withdraw tax and penalty free were the gains made off the principal.

I just called Fidelity to pull some of my principal out, and they said that I was under the 5 year period for my Roth IRA account and that I couldn't pull any money out until my account met the 5 year threshold.

Is this correct? Or is this some sort of mistake? I thought the Roth IRA acted as both a savings account and a retirement account.