Today's Cheat Sheet is brought to you by Web Success Agency:
http://websuccessagency.com/

 

Final Early voting totals:

Bottom Line:  The survey says it was a record early voting season this year.  All told just fewer than 30 million Americans did cast ballots during the early opportunity (including yours truly).  Ashley and I stood in line for an hour and 58 minutes two Sunday’s ago.  That wasn’t uncommon around Florida.  It remains to be seen if it will keep lines from being that long tomorrow but we do know it was a record early season. 

With 29.5 million votes already having been cast what do we know?  It’s important to note that no votes have been cast in this election thus far (and won’t be until all polls are closed in a given state). 

We know that we’re set for a much closer election than 2008.  That’s what we know so far.  You didn’t need me to tell you that though…  Ohio is anyone’s guess because voters don’t register based on party affiliation in the state but in all other states Romney is performing better than McCain was relative to 2008…  That’s not necessarily a big statement either because that had to happen for Romney to have a chance.  You’ll recall that 2008 wasn’t a close election.  It does appear as though Colorado is the most clear swing state to firmly move to the right.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/11/04/obamas-lead-in-early-voting-smaller-than-in-2008/1682259/

 

Timeline of voting and reporting:

Bottom Line:  The name of the game tomorrow is to pace yourself if you have to get up and going early on Wednesday.  Here’s a bit of a break down of the timeline as to when results will come in (all EST):

  • 7pm first polls close
  • 7:30 more states close
  • 8:00 Florida along with other central time states close
  • 8:30 & 9:00 are times when others close

While we’ll have some states decided by ten and even eleven when the next round of states closing hits.  That means that if it comes down to a state like Oregon we will be well past  11.  This means that if you can’t go to sleep until you know the outcome tomorrow night, you’ll likely need a plan to rest up earlier in the day or on Wednesday.

http://allthingsd.com/20121104/tuesday-is-election-night-be-careful-what-you-tweet/

 

3rd party influence in the election:

Bottom Line:  The average 3rd party vote in the previous three Presidential Elections has been about 1.5%.  While all of the conversation surrounds the head to head numbers with Romney and Obama, the other story is the third party story.  When we see the head to head polls as it appears that 3-4% are still undecided and we can’t figure out how that’s still the case.  Well that’s not the case.  We tend to forget about the 3rd party candidates.  It’s possible that as many as 5 states could be decided by 1% or less.  If that’s the case then the 3rd party likely will influence the outcome of the election.  If that occurs it likely isn’t good news for Romney as Gary Johnson is the biggest 3rd party candidate and would likely draw potential Romney votes.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/11/05/ohio-third-party-candidates-tilt-election/1681311/

 

Warning if you have any NBC accounts – hack attack:

Bottom Line:  NBC and its affiliated sites were the latest victims of a hack attack over the weekend.  While NBC fixed the situation relatively quickly, what we don’t know is if users were compromised. 

If you have an NBC account you likely should change your username and password and monitor closely and personal info you had stored on the site incase users do turn out to have been compromised. 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57544863-83/saturday-night-live-web-site-defaced-in-apparent-hacking/

 

Rejecting or delaying a bonus:

Bottom Line:  Really could it ever make sense not to accept a bonus or delay taking it?  Sure.  Given the inefficiencies of a progressive tax system there are plenty of times that’s the case.  Below is the 2012 income tax table.  No is the time to figure out your family income ytd and project through the end of the year.  Understand if you’re close to being nudged into a higher tax bracket. 

For example the jump from 15% tax to 25% happens for individuals just over $35,000.  Imagine taking a $500 bonus and having to pay 10% more Federal income tax?  That would cost you $3000. 

There are plenty of steps you can take to lower your taxable income if you’re close (charity, use of IRA’s, etc).  We should plan now to know what the best next steps are.

http://taxes.about.com/od/Federal-Income-Taxes/qt/Tax-Rates-For-The-2012-Tax-Year.htm

 

A video peek of the Wii U console in advance of its release:

Bottom Line:  If you want a sneak peak of the next generation system from Nintendo that goes on sale Nov. 18th…:

http://allthingsd.com/20121102/ahead-of-wii-u-launch-nintendo-shows-how-u-will-play-next/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker