My first-ever TIPS (that's Treasury Inflation-Protected Security for those of you who aren't Treasury Direct fans) is going to mature on Jan. 15th. If my memory is correct, it's from the first-ever US Treasury issuance of TIPS, issued in 1997 for 10 years. It was my first Treasury, and one of my first ever investments outside of a bank.

My husband wasn't sold on the idea, but I persuaded him to let me invest $3K which at the time was a lot of money for us. It turned out to be a pretty good investment as it has paid 3-3/8 on top of the inflation adjustments.

We bought a few additional TIPS later on, but never got nearly as good a rate. And, it's been quite some time since we bought a TIPS since the rates just haven't been appealing.

Anyway ..... I am kind of sad to see that TIPS mature. It represents a milestone on my road to (hopefully) financial maturity.

You never forget your first ... sigh ...