How to deposit checks that are wildly out of the ordinary for me?

Well, you can certainly do it without any suspicion, but you may always want to look into higher-yield instruments if you now have 20k+. A lot of money market accounts start at 10k (although the rest are 25k), or you could put it into an Roth IRA (4k limit for 2006 before 15 Apr) + index fund (good returns plus low expenses). In other words, now that you have 5 figures of money for the first time, educate yourself on what new options you have available. Money makes money. :)

Reiterating the opinions above - just deposit them. I would suggest making copies of the checks for your records, and at some point (if you ever get audited by the IRS) you might need a letter from your benefactors to say that they are gifts, not income. You could also deposit them as separate transactions at the same time (i.e., write out different deposit slips for each check) so that they appear as discrete items on your statement. Really, the bank teller won't care, and the only thing the bank might do is hold off on crediting the majority of the checks' value until they have cleared their originating banks. Also as suggested above, don't let the money just 'sit' there. Every day it's in that checking account, it's at least couple of dollars every day you are not earning. Definitely look into the options already mentioned, alternatively, a more immediate option is to deposit the money into an online savings account with http://home.ingdirect.com/, https://www.emigrantdirect.com/ or http://www.hsbcdirect.com/, all of which are currently offering in the region of 5% annual interest. Do an AskMefi search on these - there are a few threads discussing them.

FWIW, Amboy Direct has one of the best savings rates (5.25% APY) in the country right now for a regular online savings account. The opening limit is ridiculously low, too. (I'm a happy customer..otherwise I have no other interest in them) Eloan is slightly better (5.38% APY), but they require a $10k opening deposit, although you don't have to keep that much in the account after you open it. In your case, Eloan might be better. In closer answer to your question, just do it. My biggest checks, for many years, hvae been around $2k, but I went in and deposited a $6500 check the other day and only the normal hold was placed on it. My g/f did the same with an over $10k check and other than the normal hold, nothing interesting happened.

However, if I were you, I would make great efforts to get to the ATM and get one deposited today. Otherwise, you'll have $20000 in gifts to report to the IRS next year ... This is wrong. As others have pointed out, the gift tax is an obligation of the giver, not the receiver. A giver can give up to $12,000 each to as many people as the giver desires without taxes. The receiver can receive an unlimited amount of money without taxes. For example, a husband and wife could each give $12,000 to each of their three children. This would be $36,000 from each parent and $24,000 to each child, for a total of $72,000. If you have two checks of $10,000 from two different people, neither the givers or the receiver needs to pay a gift tax.

At all the banks I know, ATM transactions done after close of business are not considered to occur until the next business day, so you may be too late to follow ikkyu2's good advice. The Bank Secrecy Act only applies to deposits/withdrawals/purchases of negotiable instruments (Cashier's Checks, etc.) involving $10,000 and over in cash. Even so, it only becomes of interest to the gov't if it begins to fit into some sort of pattern suggesting money laundering/drug running/terror funding. A single reported item will be of negligible interest to anyone. Your bank will not be in any way suspicious of your transaction, and even if they are, the most they will do is place an extended hold on the deposit. You should anticipate a 5 or 7 business day hold on the majority of the funds. The teller should be able to tell you exactly how long the hold will be, if it matters to you. Do consider CDs or high-interest savings, if you haven't already, and congratulations.

Unless you're the subject of a criminal investigation, no one will care about these checks. They're large enough that they'll get reported to a Federal database, which is regularly mined for evidence of suspicious activity, but if you're not a terrorist the chance of anything being done about it is low. Remember that, in the USA at least, it is not illegal prima facie to possess money. If it were illegal to deposit $10000 into your checking account, how would folks do anything involving money? However, if I were you, I would make great efforts to get to the ATM and get one deposited today. Otherwise, you'll have $20000 in gifts to report to the IRS next year, and as others have said $8000 will be taxable income. If you have $10000 in '06 and $10000 in '07 the gifts are tax exempt. Do photocopy the checks before you deposit them. You might even photocopy one, deposit it today, then ask the writer of the other one to exchange it for one with a 2007 date on the front of it. Anyone with the wherewithal to write a $10K check would understand the reason for this and comply immediately - they don't intend that you hand a third of their money to the government, they want you to keep it.

I just deposited an enormous check into an account that normally has less than $500 in it and then transferred it out two days later. Nobody seemed to notice or care, so don't worry about it.

The length of the hold may depend on the origin of the check (cheque). For example, when cashing a foreign cheque (Canadian) at my US credit union, the cheque was subject to an 11 day hold. However, $5k was available to spend right away. If you are getting a lengthy hold then make sure they spot you some funds right away. You should receive a letter that explains all the details of the hold. nth the "bank won't blink an eye" sentiment.

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