What do you do with the interest in the mean time?
I'd like to start a tips ladder for when I retire in ~5 years, but I'm not how to handle the interest.
I don’t take into consideration interest. If I need 50k in 2028, then I buy a TIPS that will give me 50k + inflation adjustment in 2028 and consider the interest ‘extra’.
I’ll reinvest the interest payments when I get them based on my AA.
This causes me to buy more TIPS than I need, but I’m ok with that. I’m only buying TIPS to cover basic expenses. It’s meant to deal with the worst case scenario where we have a prolonged bear market in equities.
For example, 50k/year is a barebones budget but I really want 80k/year. The extra 30k will come from the other parts of my portfolio, assuming all is well. If it’s not well, then TIPS will prevent me from having to sell low and I can wait until things get back to normal.
If there is extra from TIPS interest along the way, all the better.
In your case, I might invest the interest into short-term treasuries and then use that as income when you retire. It might be enough, along with your other investments, that you can roll your TIPS when they mature into another step in your ladder, assuming you want to keep the ladder going.
I haven’t decided what I will do when my TIPS mature, but lots of time to figure that out.