SCHP vs TIPA

SCHPASchwab US TIPS ETF

TIPABNorthern Trust 2030 Inflation-Linked Distributing Ladder ETF

In short

SCHP Inflation insurance in the plainest wrapper available: SCHP owns the full maturity range of Treasury inflation-protected bonds and tracks its Bloomberg index for three basis points a year.

TIPA Most target-maturity bond funds hand you one lump sum at the finish line. TIPA is a ladder of US inflation-protected Treasuries built to pay you down along the way, income and principal, through 2030.

Stated mandate

SCHP The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of an index composed of inflation-protected U.S. Treasury securities.

TIPA The Fund seeks periodic inflation-linked distributions from U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities through 2030, providing income and/or principal for a five-year spend-down strategy.

Why people hold it

• SCHP 0.03% a year, a quarter of the typical Treasury-fund fee and level with the cheapest names in the group (VGIT, VCSH).
• One job, done literally: only inflation-linked US Treasuries, whose principal adjusts with the official consumer price index.
• Running since 2010, now a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively and hugs the Bloomberg Series-L index closely.
• Passive, no maturity tilt, no manager view: one of the cleaner builds among Treasury ETFs.

• TIPA Built for spending rather than stockpiling: a TIPS ladder designed to distribute income and/or principal across a five-year spend-down runway ending in 2030.flexshares.com
• Inflation-linked at the source. Distributions are drawn from US Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, not fixed coupons from nominal bonds.flexshares.com
• Costs 0.10% a year, in line with the median for target-maturity bond funds and level with heavyweights like BSCU and IBDU.
• Government paper only, so the things that move it are rates and inflation readings rather than corporate credit trouble.

Worth knowing

• SCHP Inflation-linked is not rate-proof. This spans the whole maturity spectrum, so prices move with real yields.
• Distributions are irregular. Coupons sit on an inflation-adjusted principal, so the cash arrives lumpy, not as a steady check.
• About 50 bonds, all Uncle Sam. No credit spread, no corporate yield pickup; inflation and duration are the whole story.

• TIPA The pot is meant to shrink. Payouts can include return of capital, so this is a melting ice cube by design, not a perpetual income stream.
• A small fund that trades thinly, which usually means wider bid-ask spreads than the aisle's largest target-maturity names.
• Launched in 2025, and payouts track inflation adjustments, so amounts vary rather than arriving like a fixed coupon.

Full SCHP profile⁠

Full TIPA profile⁠