We’re going to let you in on a not-so-secret “secret”—you can rent a car without a credit card. You can even travel without using a credit card. It’s mind-blowing stuff. In fact, you can live your life as you normally would without ever using a credit card for anything. But that’s a different rant for a different day . . .

Buckle up, because we’re about to show you how to rent a car without a credit card.

How to Rent a Car Without a Credit Card

Renting a car without using a credit card sounds fine and dandy in theory, but how does it all shake out in reality? Look no further, we’ve got you covered with seven tips to figure out how to rent a car without a credit card.

1. Choose a company that allows you to rent a car with a debit card.

Believe it or not, they’re out there. And they’re more than myth or legend.

Up until now, a lot of car rental companies would make you jump through some serious hoops if you slapped down a debit card instead of a credit card. And some of them still will. If you want to rent a car without using a credit card you might be asked to bring in everything but your social security card, medical history and attendance report from third grade.

Okay, we’re kidding. But only kind of.

Car rental companies vary on what they require from you if you’re paying with a debit card. But some common things they might ask for are proof of car insurance, a pay stub, a recent bank statement, or even a utility bill with an address that matches the one on your driver’s license.

Our friends at Dollar Car Rental are one of those not-so-mythical creatures who will let you rent a car with a debit card (that is, non-prepaid debit cards backed by Visa, Mastercard or Discover). Imagine that, a car rental company who will take your debit card (and not your first born with it). Dollar will rent a car to you, process your debit card, and send you on your way. Renting a car with a debit card just got much easier. Finally!

2. Research your car options.

Some car rental companies limit the types of cars you can rent if you’re paying with a debit card. Check with your rental company to see what kinds of vehicles you can rent when paying with a debit card. If you have your sights set on renting a luxury or exotic type of vehicle, you might have to think again. But don’t worry, those minivans and economy cars are calling your name! And they’ll get you better gas mileage anyway.

3. Meet minimum age requirements.

A lot of car rental companies are going to either not allow you to rent a car until you’re 25, or they’ll make you pay a pretty penny for being under their age requirement. That’s standard stuff. But Dollar Car Rental is one of the few companies that will let anyone age 20 and up rent a car—and you can use your debit card too. How’s that for first-class treatment?

4. Have a valid driver’s license.

This goes without saying, but if you want to rent a car then you need to have a valid, up-to-date driver’s license. Why? Because those of us on the open road with you want to be sure you know how to drive. Funny how things work like that, isn’t it?

But really—don’t forget your driver’s license at home.

5. Be prepared for credit checks.

If you want to rent a car without a credit card, some companies will run a credit check on you—because seeing how well you manage debt somehow means you’re more likely to return their rental car. Yeah, we don’t get it either. And neither does Dollar. They want to save you that hassle, which is why they’ve done away with credit checks and credit limits.

6. Look out for travel plan requirements.

Car rental companies can be pretty nosy when it comes to your travel plans—especially at airports. If you land at the Nashville airport and want to rent a car with a debit card, you’ll be asked to show proof of your return flight out of Nashville.

This is another area where Dollar is flexible. As long as you book your car rental 24 hours in advance, just show your driver’s license, pay with a debit card and you’re all set. Didn’t book in advance? No sweat. Just be sure to bring in a second form of I.D. and your travel plans (along with your license and debit card).

7. Prepare for holds/deposits.

Holy inconvenience, Batman! No one wants to see a hold from the rental company sitting in their bank account. Here’s the thing: A hold can be annoying—but at Dollar, it’s actually the same hold amount you’d pay if you were paying with a credit card anyway. So pony up for that $200 hold or deposit (don’t worry—they’ll give it right back when you return the car).

But Don’t I Need a Credit Card for Rental Car Insurance?

Ah, yes—this is a common misconception. Most people assume they need to use a credit card to rent a car so they can get insurance coverage through their credit company.

But guess what? You’re actually covered through your primary car insurance carrier! Take that credit card companies! We don’t need you! Besides, not every card offers coverage, and some of them don’t even cover property damage or damage to another vehicle anyway.

Benefits of Renting a Car With a Debit Card

Here’s a crazy notion: Renting a car with a debit card means that the price they quote you is actually the price you’re going to pay. Why? Because paying with a debit card means no interest added (unlike paying with a credit card).

If you rent a car with a credit card, you’ll end up paying interest on the amount of the rental price you put on the card. And every month you don’t pay it off, you’ll add on more and more interest. So a $300 car rental that seemed like such a good deal, could end up costing you. . . well, a lot!

Let’s say you charge that $300 car rental fee to your credit card, which has an annual percentage rate of 19%. You’re in no real hurry to pay it off and drag it out over the next year. The grand total you’ll end up paying back is now $357.

And that’s assuming you weren’t already carrying a balance on the card. If you had a revolving balance of $1,500 on the credit card and then charged this $300 car rental to it, your balance is now $1,800. But with that 19% interest being charged on the entire amount, you’ll now have to pay back $2,142 total. Ouch!

You Can Rent a Car Without a Credit Card

Don’t buy into the hype that you need a credit card to make it through life. That’s just crazy talk. And you definitely don’t need a credit card to rent a car. If you’re looking for a rental company that makes it easy, reach out to our friends at Dollar Car Rental.

And the next time you need to hit the open road in a car that isn’t yours, remember what’s in your wallet—a debit card.

If a leader doesn’t convey passion and intensity then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they’ll start to fall down and get depressed. Get Your Free Position Now http://lock-in-your-position.com/lp3/?sponsor=homeprofitcoach

We don’t want the not knowing what to do to keep you from starting your own business. Whether you want to start small or come out with a bang right off the bat, here are five key steps—taken from Christy Wright’s Business Boutique—that will get you started.

Related: Already have a business, but looking to grow your business even more? Check out Dave Ramsey’s EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches. This book is for leaders like yourself!

1. Determine Your Why

Before you put yourself out there in the world as a business, the first question you need to answer is, “Why am I doing this?” Owning a small business is hard work. According to the Small Business Association, only two-thirds of small businesses survive two years.^[1] It’s a roller coaster ride, so you better love what you’re doing in order to survive the ups and downs. If you’re just in it for the money, you won’t make a lot of money—and you won’t be in business long, either.

Christy loves to talk about her mom, who owns a cake shop. She says, “Now, in her mid-sixties, she’s still making cakes. When she has a stressful day and vents to me about being bogged down with orders, sometimes I ask, ‘Mom, why do you still do it?’”

Christy says she always replies, “Because it matters to the families who have gotten their cakes from me for over thirty years. It matters to that bride who will never forget her wedding day and the cake I made. I’m not just making cakes. I’m a part of some of the most special, important, and remembered moments in someone’s life. That’s why I still do it.”

2. Work Out the Logistics

Once you have your why, it’s a good idea to plan out the specifics on the front end, like how you will actually do business. Be sure to answer these questions:

• What product or service will you offer? Remember to stay in your lane. Opportunities in business are endless, but not every opportunity is a good one. Successful business leaders are willing to let good opportunities pass them by if they aren’t the right opportunities for their specific businesses.
• What schedule will you work? Your schedule can look any way you want. There’s no “right” schedule, and you certainly don’t have to abide by a nine-to-five day.
• What will your budget be? You need to make sure that you know what your business income and outgo will be, even when you first start out. The last thing you want to happen is to go into debt for this business. Knowing your budget will also help you figure out . . .
• How much will you charge? Setting the right price point is critical to your profitability, marketing ability, and overall success in business.
• What will your policies be? You need policies for shipping, returns, cancellations, and other situations that will come up. Setting your policies on the front end helps ensure you aren’t taken advantage of later.

3. Make It Official

Getting your business license shouldn’t be an afterthought. It’s not a big expense: probably around $15, depending on where you live.

Another thing you’ll want to do right away is open a separate checking account for the business. A business checking account can be listed under your name and Social Security number. For example, the account could be named: John Doe, DBA (Doing Business As) John Doe Plumbing. Place all of the money you make from the business into that account. Pay all of your business-related expenses from there as well.

Income minus expenses equals profit, so if you’re putting your income into this account, and you’re taking your expenses out of here, then the balance will be your profit. But, most importantly, don’t go into debt to start this business. Follow the steps we’ve outlined, pay cash as you go, and start building your business slowly. And while we’re on the subject of money . . .

4. Pay Your Taxes

If you take home any of those business profits, you need to set aside one-fourth of that income in a small savings account for taxes. Legally, if you make over $600 gross income on the business in one quarter—a three-month period—then you’re supposed to file quarterly estimates on your taxes and pay withholding. And that should usually come out to around 25%.

So, for instance, if you make $10,000 and spend $9,000, then you have $1,000 left to take home. Write a check for $750 to yourself and a check for $250 to go into your tax savings account. That will take care of your taxes.

If you’re not aware of your tax situation, a withdrawal in November could bring a major tax bill in April. Not a good deal. To avoid any confusion, make sure you have a tax professional—one with the heart of a teacher—that you can trust. Be smart about what you are doing with your money—keeping in mind that what you are doing now can affect you later.

5. Put Yourself Out There

This is the moment you’ve waited for! You’ve laid a solid foundation by knowing your why, making your business official, and working out the logistics. Now it’s time to tell the world about your business through marketing!

Think about the brand you want to build. What do you want your business to look and feel like? What words do your ideal customers use? Everything from the colors on your website to the font on your business cards should reflect a consistent brand experience for your customers.

With that in mind, it’s time to set up a website or a (free!) social media account for your business. This is where you get to start the conversation with your potential customers, tell your story, and share what you have to offer! People buy from people they know, like, and trust—so this is your opportunity to establish those connections.

Bonus: Stay Motivated

It’s hard to start a business, and it’s also difficult to keep your business going while you’re working hard in the trenches. Keep yourself motivated by subscribing to our EntreLeadership Podcast, or attending one of our business live events for a resourceful and inspirational experience that will help you not just stay in business, but live out your dream for your business.

So get out there and start your business now!

For the complete plan on how to start or grow a business, pick up a copy of Business Boutique: A Woman’s Guide for Making Money Doing What She Loves.

If a leader doesn’t convey passion and intensity then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they’ll start to fall down and get depressed. Get Your Free Position Now http://lock-in-your-position.com/lp3/?sponsor=homeprofitcoach

What is a QSEHRA?

A QSEHRA (pronounced Q-Sarah) is one way that small-business owners can help offset their employees’ health care costs. But your business will have to meet some strict IRS requirements before you can offer a QSEHRA.³ You qualify to offer a QSEHRA if your business:

• Employs less than 50 full-time employees
• Does not offer a group health plan
• Does not offer any other type of health reimbursement arrangement

With a QSEHRA, your company reimburses your employees up to $4,950 per year for an individual and up to $10,000 for a family for qualified medical expenses.⁴ Tax-free. That’s pretty great!

How does a QSEHRA work?

One of the advantages of choosing a QSEHRA instead of purchasing a group health plan like an HMO is that you have some flexibility in how you set up the plan, and your employees then have some flexibility in what kind of health care plan they choose. With a traditional group health plan, if the employer chooses to offer an HMO, then everyone in the company who’s eligible gets an HMO. If they want a PPO or HDHP, they’re out of luck.

When you set up a QSEHRA, your eligible team members basically pay for their own health care expenses, they get to pick their desired independent plan, and you reimburse them. Simple, right? Well, it gets complicated very fast. Let’s break down how a QSEHRA works in detail.

1. Design your plan.

First things first: You can choose a limit on how much you’ll reimburse your employees. Just make sure your plan meets the IRS “same terms requirement,” which means you can’t give some employees more money than others—with a couple of exceptions that we’ll get to.⁵

In the easiest, but possibly most expensive option, you can choose to reimburse everyone up to the maximum allowed. Boom. Done.

Or, you can select a flat rate for everyone. Let’s say you set this at $300 a month. Everyone can expense up to $300.

You can offer different rates based on marital status or dependents. In this example, single employees get $300 per month, married employees get $600, and families get $900.

The last way you can break it down is by age. This one is a little more complicated because the amounts have to be tied to a reference plan on the individual market. Basically, your reimbursement amounts are on a sliding scale based on the employee’s age. The older they are, the more you pay.

You can also choose what kinds of health expenses to reimburse. For example, you can limit it to paying for premiums. Or you can reimburse for premiums and qualified medical expenses such as co-pays, prescriptions, dental visits or vision care. You can also exclude categories of expenses, but you have to exclude them for everyone. Again, just make sure to apply it fairly.

2. Team members pay for their own health care.

With a QSEHRA, your team members pay for their own health insurance and medical bills. Employees can submit receipts for reimbursement of anything listed in IRS Publication 502, which contains an extensive list of qualified medical expenses.⁶ This includes things like:

• Insurance premiums
• Prescription medications
• Chiropractic treatments
• Diagnostic studies
• Dental and orthodontic care
• Eye exams and corrective lenses
• Hearing aids
• Emergency services
• Caring for a disabled dependent
• Non-cosmetic surgery

Again, you can limit what you reimburse for, just as long the limits apply to everyone.

3. Your team members give you proof of payment.

This part sounds simple at first. And it is mostly, except for one thing: the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). HIPAA requires health plans and most health care providers to make sure that a patient’s protected health information (PHI) is, well, protected.⁷  Some examples of PHI include:

• A bill from a hospital visit
• Lab results
• Surgery reports
• Explanation of benefits (EOB) from an insurance company
• Social Security numbers, health plan group numbers, medical report numbers and patient ID numbers

The main ways to show proof of payment for services are receipts from the point of service and explanation of benefits forms. But receipts and EOBs are considered to be protected health information. Since you would be, in effect, administering a health plan by reimbursing medical expenses under a QSEHRA, you’d need to be HIPAA compliant.

This is where the needle scratches the record. Getting HIPAA compliant requires undergoing some certification and training and involves the four main HIPAA Rules.⁸ These rules include:

1. HIPAA Privacy Rule: This rule is designed to ensure that patient health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high-quality care and to protect the public’s health and well-being.⁹

2. HIPAA Security Rule: This rule is designed to ensure sure that any electronic transmission of health records meets the standards established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within HHS.¹⁰

3. HIPAA Compliance and Enforcement Rule: This rule establishes provisions relating to compliance, investigations and enforcement of the privacy and security rules.¹¹ It also establishes civil money penalties and procedures for hearings.

4. Breach Notification Rule: This rule states that the HHS must be notified of any breach of unsecured protected health information. There are different rules depending on if the breach affected more or less than 500 patients.¹²

Obviously, this is super complicated and serious because if you don’t do things right, it can cost you a lot of money in fines and penalties. Also, because there’s a ton of sensitive information in a person’s medical records, some employees may be reluctant to share it with their boss. That’s just something to consider.

4. You reimburse your team members up to the limit you set.

This is the easy part. You have the proof, now you pay them. There are different ways to do it, but it’s usually done through payroll. In the vast majority of cases, reimbursements are tax-free. The main exception is if the employee wants to be reimbursed for their spouse’s contribution to their health plan.

If your employee has a regular reimbursement, you can automate that to come out of their check at the same time each month. Just make sure to get that proof of payment!

You may want to compare the costs of implementing a QSEHRA to see how much it would cost to offer a traditional group health insurance plan. Or, you could offer your employees a point of contact in the insurance industry to help them pick the plan that’s right for their health care needs. In that case, definitely talk to one of our independent insurance agent Endorsed Local Providers (ELPs).

Which employees can take advantage of a QSEHRA?

So, the general rule is that all employees are treated fairly under a QSEHRA. This means you must include all of your full-time employees in the QSEHRA. But you can choose whether or not to include:

• Part-time employees
• Seasonal employees
• Employees under 25 at the start of the plan year

Basically, anyone who gets a W-2 must or can be included, depending on full-time or part-time status. Contractors or workers who get a 1099 cannot be included in a QSEHRA.

How does a QSEHRA affect my business taxes?

When it’s time to file your small-business taxes, reimbursements under a QSEHRA are counted as deductions. So that’s awesome. But there’s a lot of paperwork. You need to account for all reimbursements and make sure you’re in compliance.

Small-business taxes can already be a hassle, and adding a QSEHRA on top of that just makes it even more complicated. So, get some help from a professional tax advisor. Our tax ELPs can make your life easier and save you some money.

Find a tax pro in your area today!

If a leader doesn’t convey passion and intensity then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they’ll start to fall down and get depressed. Get Your Free Position Now http://lock-in-your-position.com/lp3/?sponsor=homeprofitcoach