If one wants a guaranteed store of real purchasing power to pay off a future liability or to provide a multi-year income stream such as for retirement, then a ladder of TIPS provides a much stronger guarantee than other readily available assets.

Readers of this publication know the costs of an investment product reduce the net return and consider cost as an important criterion for selecting investments to make up client portfolios. But how do advisors define costs, and how important is cost reduction compared to other portfolio objectives?