Leaving CH - how to move money

I'll be leaving switzerland soon, returning to USA

Me: I'm a US citizen, living in CH for work.

I have recently sold 2 cars and a bunch of "stuff" I don't want to bring with me, I will also get "extra" money from my company (they will pay me for the vacation days I did not use and expenses.....)

SO my bank account will have a LOT more money then normal

How do I move this money to the USA without either of the Governments thinking I'm doing something "illegal" 

For example let's use these numbers:

Car 1 - original price 100,000   Sold price of 50,000

Car 2 - original price 75,000  Sold price of 35,000

Unused vacation / expenses / .... from work - 25,000

Sold thing from my apartment to people / friends .... - 25,000

Apartment deposit return - 10,000

I now have 145,000 chf to move to the USA

Oh , one last bit...

ALL of this money will be needed immediately to repurchase all the things sold.

The proceeds for the car sales will go to buying a new car,

The proceeds for the apartment will go to a new apartment.

.......   So the money isn't going into a bank for "storage" it will be going to immediate purchases.

Transfers have to be declared to the IRS. Normally the US bank does this for you, but it would be a good idea to contact your US bank and ask if there are any steps you should take before the transfer is made.

Since all the money you mentioned is simply savings, with no capital gains, etc. there should be no taxes on the money. Most of this would have been declared in your US tax returns already. Your Swiss employer will give you salary statements showing the unused vacation compensation, etc.

Try to keep as much proof of sales, etc. just in case. But in your case, the declaration should just be a formality. I don't see why there would be any issues.

Thank you.

I was thinking I would transfer 10k over every few days.  

I'm not sure if that would cause any "red" flags to appear.

Understand, I'm not trying to "hide" the money, I just don't want to have to go through a lengthy process of explaining and then worrying if they don't believe / understand my explanation.   

thanks again.

You shouldn't really have to explain much. The US bank just has to report the transfer. They may ask you to fill out a form for this purpose, but not necessarily.

My recommendation is to focus on the costs of transferring the money instead, as those can be high if you do it wrong. The IRS report is just a formality (the usual anti-money laundering/terrorism financing).

thank you for your assistance. 

This eases my mind.

You're welcome. Just for the record, I'm not a tax specialist. If you have specific concerns, you might consider consulting a tax advisor who specializes in taxes for US expats.

All the best for your move.