Under what circumstances would purchasing a Treasury Inflation Protected Security $($TIPS$)$ from the U$.$S$.$ government be virtually risk$-$ free?As default risk and interest rate risk are negligible or absent with a TIPS, purchasing one would be virtually risk$-$free if its maturity exactly matched your investment horizon, thus eliminating inflation risk$\mathrm{.}01$:$15$:$36$Purchasing a TIPS from the U$.$S$.$ government would be virtually risk$-$free only if the government provided an explicit guarantee that it would honor its obligations relating to the security.There is no way to make any security, even one issued by the U$.$S$.$ government, virtually risk$-$free.As default risk and inflation risk are negligible or absent with a TIPS, purchasing one would be virtually risk$-$free if its maturity exactly matched your investment horizon, thus eliminating interest rate risk.