The interest
payments during the life of the bond are subject to being calculated from a lower principal, but the investor is never at risk of losing the total principal of TIPS if held to maturity.
Zero - coupon bonds provide value to their issuing organization as it eliminates the need for interest payments
during the life of the bond, trading the costs of management and overhead for the lower initial selling price.
In return for that money, the issuer provides you with a bond in which it promises to pay a specified rate of interest
during the life of the bond and to repay the face value of the bond (the principal) when it matures, or comes due.
Zero coupon bond - a bond that pays no interest
during the life of the bond, but is instead sold at a deep discount from its value at maturity
«Zero coupon bonds are bonds that do not pay interest
during the life of the bonds.