Support for TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities)

SirDodo
SirDodo Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭
in Investments

TIPS account for 8% of US Government debt. They are increasingly being recommended for retirement accounts. Unfortunately, Quicken does not provide an accurate picture of the value of and gains from my TIPS holdings and it is too difficult/time consuming to manage this (for me, at least) with the workarounds that have been suggested for the current product. (See links to posts below.)

Proper accounting for TIPS requires historical and ongoing data for the inflation factor of each TIPS offering. Managing this data is difficult for end users, but would be relatively easy for investment management software such as Quicken.

IMO, the best solution would be for Quicken to maintain (and regularly update) a table of data obtained from the Treasury on the historical values and inflation factors for all the various TIPS offerings. Users entering a TIPS holding in Quicken would match the CUSIP of the TIPS bond they purchased to one of the entries in Quicken's master table. Quicken would take care of the rest. This would be a real service to users.

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7927487/an-approach-to-the-tips-treasury-inflation-protected-securites-valuation-problem

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7930760/tips-treasury-inflation-protected-securities-handling-the-inflation-factor
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7785052/accounting-for-the-increase-in-par-value-of-tips
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  • Jim_Harman
    Jim_Harman Quicken Windows Subscription SuperUser ✭✭✭✭✭

    Or you could buy a TIPS ETF such as VTIP

    QWin Premier subscription
  • nc00ks0n
    nc00ks0n Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭

    I second the need to track TIPS accurately.

  • LarryNolan
    LarryNolan Quicken Mac Other Member ✭✭✭
    edited April 2025

    I bought at Schwab last week UST INFL IDX 0.125%01/31INFL INDEX DUE 01/15/31 . Over the weekend I noticed that Schwab showed that my bond was much ($20,000 roughly) higher market value that what Quicken Mac shows.

    So I contacted my broker and got this reply (below).

    My financial account managers wrote : 

    "it appears Quicken is not adjusting for the inflation factor. TIPS have an inflation-adjusted price that sets their market value based on the inflation change. The price that Quicken is reflecting seems to be consistent with the price if inflation were not taken into consideration. Schwab's market value reflects the inflation adjusted price."

    I definitely want Quicken Mac to properly apply the inflation factor, if not daily then weekly.

  • bmarcellus
    bmarcellus Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

    Quicken needs to consider the inflation factor on Treasury Inflation Protected Securities when calculating the market value. The market value of a TIPS is not just price x quantity, it's price x quantity x inflation factor. Example - Holding 10 bonds of CUSIP 912810QF8, par value $1,000 on 8/29/25. Price 99.49269 in Quicken gives market value of $9,949.27. The inflation factor is 1.49252, so the inflation factor adjusted price is 148.631112, and that is the actual price to purchase that security. Market value of the 10 bonds is $14,863.11. Quicken is understating the value by 49%.

  • Chris_QPW
    Chris_QPW Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2025

    And where would Quicken get this inflation number from, and where would it be put in?

    Signature:
    This is my website (ImportQIF is free to use):

    http://www.quicknperlwiz.com/

  • Quicken Anja
    Quicken Anja Moderator mod

    Hello @bmarcellus,

    Thank you for reaching out with your request.

    Your idea has been merged into this already active Idea thread regarding the same request.

    Thank you!

    -Quicken Anja
    Make sure to sign up for the email digest to see a round up of your top posts.

  • BobS2
    BobS2 Quicken Windows Subscription Member, Windows Beta Beta
    https://community.quicken.com/discussion/comment/20507277#Comment_20507277

    I concur. There is a US fed site with TIP info: https://www.treasurydirect.gov/auctions/announcements-data-results/tips-cpi-data/

    As you observed it doesn't look like Q can automate the collection of relevant data to auto calculate TIP values.

    If we want the true value of a TIP it appears the user will have to manually calc the value and enter it into Q, just as I have to with US savings bonds.

    The suggestion needs further refinement and even a proposal of how the values would be calculated by Q.

  • TedQacct
    TedQacct Quicken Windows Subscription Member ✭✭

    Here's a workaround:

    Workflow: Reconciling TIPS Valuation in Quicken

    Objective: Force Quicken to reflect the Adjusted Principal value (Market Price × Inflation Factor) to match the monthly statement, rather than the raw market price.

    Phase 1: One-Time Setup (Disable Auto-Updates)

    Prevent Quicken from overwriting your manual work during the next "One Step Update."

    1. Open Quicken and navigate to the Security Detail View for the specific TIPS bond.
    2. Click Edit Security Details (or "Edit Details").
    3. Locate the checkbox "Download Quotes" (or "Matched with Online Security").
      • Action:Uncheck this box.
      • Note: If you cannot uncheck it, clear the "Ticker Symbol" field entirely. Quicken relies on the ticker to fetch quotes; without it, the download is blocked.
    4. Click OK to save.

    Phase 2: Recurring Maintenance (Monthly)

    Perform this workflow once a month when your statement is generated.

    Step 1: Calculate the Adjusted Price

    Locate the relevant line item on your Statement (or the "Positions" tab online).

    • Formula: image-16ddc457f7851-f165.png

    Alternatively, multiply the quoted Price x Factor directly if you have those inputs handy.

    Step 2: Update Quicken

    1. Go to the Security Detail View for the bond.
    2. Click Update Edit Price History.
    3. Select the date (e.g., statement end date).
    4. Enter the Adjusted Price calculated above (e.g., 149.05).
    5. Verify the "Market Value" in Quicken now matches the Schwab Statement total.

    Recommended Cadence

    Frequency: Monthly

    Trigger: 3rd or 4th business day of the month (when Schwab generates the PDF statement).

    Rationale:

    If are a buy-and-hold investor, daily price fluctuations are noise. Synchronizing with the official monthly statement provides a precise "hard count" for your net worth tracking without requiring daily manual calculations.

    Note on Maturity:

    When the bond matures in, the redemption will likely download as a cash transaction. Because you have been manually adjusting the price, you may see a "Capital Gain/Loss" discrepancy at the very end. You can simply adjust the final sale price to match the redemption proceeds to close out the position cleanly.

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