Guide · TIPS
Best TIPS ETFs
TIPS reset principal with CPI, so the quoted yield is a real yield. SCHP and TIP hold the full curve (duration around seven years); VTIP and STIP hold only the short end and trade more like cash with an inflation rider. The inflation step-up is taxed each year even though you do not get the cash until maturity, which is why these usually live in a tax-advantaged account.
Published May 18, 2026 · Updated Sep 16, 2026 · Fund data as of Oct 24, 2026
Why the ranking looks like this
The broad-maturity funds cluster at 3 bp, and the fee gap to TIP at 18 bps, TIPX at 15 and LTPZ at 20 shows clearly in the scores. Duration is the more important distinction between them: SCHP and TIP track the full TIPS maturity spectrum (~7-year duration); VTIP and STIP target only short-dated TIPS (~2-3 year duration), which trade more like cash with an inflation rider.
See the methodology for the full formula behind each sub-score.
The funds
This order is editorial. The composite on each card is live. The full score-ranked table is on the category page.
-
86
composite / 100
Schwab's broad-market TIPS fund. 3 bp expense. Tracks the Bloomberg US Treasury Inflation-Linked Bond Index — full maturity spectrum, intermediate duration. The broad-maturity counterpart to VTIP and STIP, which share its fee but hold only short-dated issues.
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $15.96B
- Issuer
- Schwab
- Detail
- SCHP page →
-
86
composite / 100
Vanguard's 0–5 year TIPS fund. Same 3 bps as SCHP but at a much shorter duration — behaves more like a cash-equivalent with inflation protection than a true intermediate bond. Useful as a CPI-linked alternative to a Treasury-bill fund in retirement bucketing.
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $73.01B†
- Issuer
- Vanguard
- Detail
- VTIP page →
-
87
composite / 100
iShares 0–5 year TIPS fund. Functionally interchangeable with VTIP — same 3 bps, same maturity range, slightly different index but near-identical exposure. Works as a tax-loss-harvesting partner to VTIP.
- Expense
- 0.030%
- AUM
- $16.32B
- Issuer
- iShares
- Detail
- STIP page →
-
80
composite / 100
iShares' original broad-market TIPS fund. 18 bps — six times the cost of SCHP for the same exposure. The legacy fund predates the cost compression in the category, and the fee gap to the 3 bp funds is most of what separates them on the composite.
- Expense
- 0.18%
- AUM
- $14.23B
- Issuer
- iShares
- Detail
- TIP page →
† Whole fund: this ETF is one share class of a fund that also sells mutual-fund shares, and the figure covers all of them. Our sources don't report the ETF class on its own.
Also in the category
Other funds in the same category, ranked by composite score.
Account placement matters more for TIPS than for almost anything else
The annual taxation of inflation accretion (sometimes called "phantom income") is what drives our 20 base score on the tax-efficiency sub-score for this category. In a Traditional IRA, 401(k), or Roth, the accretion compounds tax-free until withdrawal — which is when most TIPS literature implicitly assumes the fund will be held. Holding TIPS in a taxable account is functional but materially less efficient than holding them in a tax-advantaged one; the difference compounds.
TIPS funds vs individual TIPS
A common Bogleheads question is whether to hold TIPS through a fund or directly via TreasuryDirect / a brokered TIPS ladder. The fund is operationally simpler but has no maturity date — you're exposed to interest-rate risk indefinitely. A bond ladder locks in real return per rung at the cost of more accounting. Which one fits turns on whether a defined maturity date is worth that extra bookkeeping.
Common questions
- Are TIPS a good inflation hedge?
- Yes, for unexpected inflation specifically. TIPS guarantee a real return regardless of CPI; nominal Treasuries do not. They are not a hedge against high real interest rates, however — when real yields rise, TIPS prices fall too. The 2022 drawdown was a TIPS-fund-specific shock driven by real-yield repricing, not a failure of the inflation linkage.
- Short-duration or intermediate TIPS?
- Short-duration TIPS (VTIP, STIP) carry less interest-rate risk and behave more like cash-with-CPI-protection. Intermediate-duration TIPS (SCHP, TIP) carry more interest-rate risk but more closely match the duration of inflation-linked liabilities (e.g. living expenses 5–15 years out). Most allocations split or default to intermediate.
Funds are pulled from the live composite for this category. Notes are editorial and refresh with the catalog.
PlainIndex publishes data and editorial commentary — nothing here is personalized investment advice. Read the methodology for how the scores referenced here are computed.