69% of people have never asked friends, family or professional advisers for help managing their personal finances, research published by Legal & General has revealed.

Of those people, 9% said the reason was due to a lack of confidence, being too embarrassed to ask or not knowing where to turn.

This is resulting in people sacrificing their long term financial security when they experience money troubles, L&G said. It found that 33% would use their savings to compensate for a permanent reduction in income over reducing their spending on non-essentials, such as TV subscriptions, phone contracts or gym membership.

To help people improve their financial confidence, Legal & General is partnering with Rough Guides, to launch the first ever ‘Rough Guide to Personal Finance’ series.

The series of ebooks will cover all life stages, from raising children to education, work and retirement. All ebooks will be free to download and are authored by independent experts.

Nigel Wilson, CEO at Legal & General, said: “The aim of the Rough Guide to Personal Finances series is to give people no-nonsense, practical and clear information, so they can feel more confident about taking control of their finances for today and in the future.

“Money can often be a cause of stress and feel too confusing to tackle, meaning many people make ends meet rather than think positively about what a difference financial planning could make to their lives.”

Georgina Dee, publisher at Rough Guides, added: “Rough Guides are delighted to be partnering with Legal & General to produce a series of downloadable guides to personal finance. This series of ebooks is written by expert authors to help you and your family navigate your way through the world of personal finance, however young, or young at heart, you are.”

The first book focuses on Family Finances and is intended to help people with all aspects of family life from the basics of budgeting to caring for elderly relatives and the costs of bringing up children.

Legal & General’s research shows that for many families with children living at home, the children have a significant influence on household spending, with two in five parents (43%) admitting their children influence the budgeting, and 10% saying they give in to pester power to keep the peace. Only 2% of parents say they would be willing to cut down on their children’s extra-curricular activities if they experienced a long term cut to their income.