Some people have the crazy idea that they can withdraw monies from their SMSF anytime. The answer is NO. 

There was a case law where the trustees deliberately took money out for two consecutive financial years to help prop up their struggling business. Despite repeated warnings from the superfund's auditor and the trustees promising to rectify the problem but never did, the end-game was disaster. Suffice to say the trustees were taken to court by the Commissioner of Taxation and were handed 5 year jail sentences and hefty $220,000 fines for breaching the sole purpose test. The superfund was also made non-compliant and lost 45% of its balance to the ATO. Trustees were forced to sell their home to pay fines and penalties.

The lesson here is monies in your SMSF stays preserved until you reach your preservation age. Contravention of this preservation rule can lead to the SMSF losing 45% of its balance! The severity, deliberateness, carelessness and quantum of the contravention will affect the court's decision.

So what is your preservation age? Well, it depends on your birth date. This table summarises when one meets the condition of release :

There are rumours that the government may increase the preservation age to 67 to keep Australians in the workforce longer. Can you picture yourself working at 67? What job will let you do that? With the globalisation of our economy and the business environment rapidly changing, I don't think there are many stable jobs that offer such high level of security. Food for thought my friend.