A 27-year-old drew down half of her stock portfolio to buy real estate. It's part of her plan to hit financial independence.

Carolyn Yu is using real estate investing to achieve financial independence.

Courtesy of Carolyn Yu

• Carolyn Yu drew down a big chunk of her stock portfolio to buy her first rental property.
• She scaled to five properties in two years by reinvesting equity from one property into the next.
• Her goal is to continue growing her portfolio and earn enough in rental income to leave her W-2 job.

A few years into her accounting career, Carolyn Yu began thinking seriously about financial independence.