From being a “broke” volunteer firefighter to a stimulus check millionaire — back to broke again.
“You go from being a millionaire one second then back to being broke again. But hey, once you’re poor you don’t have anywhere else to go but up.”
That exact scenario played out in New Chicago, Indiana, as volunteer firefighter Charles Calvin was supposed to get a $1,700 stimulus check, an “Economic Impact Payment,” as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, but instead received $8.2 million by mistake.
Volunteer Firefighter Stimulus Error: From Poor House to Penthouse — and Back
“I went to the ATM at the Family Express and once I withdraw $200 out of my account, I looked at the available balance that was still left in my account,” Calvin said. “Apparently, my account had $8.2 million in it. I’m like what in the world is going on here?”
Calvin of course assumed an error had occurred so he checked again and then contacted his bank, which said the $8.2 million had since been retracted, but his $1,700 stimulus money was in the account.
“You go from being a millionaire one second then back to being broke again,” Calvin said. “But hey, once you’re poor you don’t have anywhere else to go but up.”
Calvin said he’s unsure if the $8.2 million error was made by the federal government or the ATM he used. But he isn’t about to complain, he said, because he got the money he was entitled to.
“Of course, it makes you pause and think, ‘What is going on?'” he said. “If there is some kind of clerical error, (the federal government) should be on top of it.”
Americans are starting to receive their Economic Impact Payments en masse this week via direct deposits, and a large number look to have gone out overnight.
I personally checked my bank account this morning and got my payment, as did my mother, several friends I texted and all of my coworkers I’ve asked.
The Internal Revenue Service began sending payments electronically this week and tens of millions of people should receive them by today.
“We are pleased that many Americans are receiving their Economic Impact Payments,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a press release earlier this week. “This Administration is delivering fast and direct economic assistance to hardworking Americans, and we hope these payments will bring them much-needed relief.”
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Editor’s note: Check out our stories, Debunking Stimulus Check Myths and 4 Stocks to Buy With Your Stimulus Check.