<prompt> Human: Greetings,Over the past several months, I have been exchanging most of the checks that I receive into hard cash. This is for the purpose of aggregating some emergency savings in physical currency, in addition to the savings that I have in the bank. I expect that some posters here will want to warn me that its a bad idea; but please dont. I am firm on this.Anyway, I would like to ensure that in withdrawing these larger amounts of money, I am not making myself a target for the IRS. So, what steps should I take in order to make myself as transparent as possible, and avoid any potential legal problems?Regards.  <response>: Its perfectly legal to keep cash around, and to cash checks. It is actually illegal to modify the sizing and timing of your transactions with the sole purpose of avoiding government scrutiny. So, just keep doing your thing and keep records on hand of what you did just in case there is any question.On a side note, I also keep some of my emergency fund as cash. It was super helpful to have when I had to bail my friend out of jail at 1 AM cash only, not even a check accepted with no working ATM nearby. 