Proof Of Funds - POF

You want to sell your collection of rare Canadian coins. Your cousin knows a guy who will buy anything with the image of moose on it. The guy comes over and agrees to pay $500 for the whole collection.

However, he looks a little ragged. He's got a shaggy beard and just three teeth, his clothes are a tattered mess, and he smells like he just bathed in a vat of sun-ripened blue cheese. He just doesn't look like he has $500. So you pull your cousin aside and ask if the guy's really got that kind of cash. "Yeah, definitely," your cousin says. "He's loaded...he just doesn't like grooming."

An informal proof of funds.

A POF gives assurances that a person has the funds needed to make a particular purchase. The real-life version is more formal. It involves a bank or other responsible authority providing written assurance that someone has the money they need. It often comes up in mortgage situations.