Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"TIPS stands for Treasury Inflation Protection Security. And what this is, first of all, it's an investment with the federal government, so it's actually super safe. People may be surprised to hear me say that, but any investment with the federal government, like a treasury security, is considered the absolute safest investment you can make. And it's an investment where really there are two interest rates that you earn. One is a base interest rate that will be stated when you buy the investment, something like 2 or 2 1/2 or 3 percent. And then secondly will be added over time an interest rate based on what the inflation rate has been. So you are guaranteed always to stay ahead of inflation. And many people right now are saying, 'Hey, if I can do that, that's fine. I want to make sure my money is safe, number one, (which it is with TIPS) and number two, at least if I can earn something above and beyond inflation, I'll be happy.' And again, you can do that with TIPS. So these have actually increased in popularity right now. You can buy TIPS directly from the Treasury Department, and you can do that through the Internet. Or you can buy them through mutual funds."