(MONEY Magazine) – I need a new car. Badly. That's my family in the photo below, sitting atop our road warrior: a 1988 Taurus wagon with 123,362 miles on it and a host of dents and scrapes. The car's been remarkably reliable--it's never once left us stranded--but I know I'm pushing my luck. The mysterious rattles and squeaks are multiplying. With two small children, I really shouldn't be taking any more risks.

Which is why I've got a personal interest in MONEY's 1998 Car Buyer's Guide, which begins on page 124. Senior writer Jerry Edgerton (who's been covering the auto beat for as long as I've been driving my Taurus) delivers some welcome news: New-car prices have come down this year for the first time in two decades, giving potential buyers like me uncommonly strong bargaining power. Then Jerry tells us exactly how to use that power to get the best price on the best new-car values around. It's good stuff.

This is my first issue as managing editor of MONEY, and if it sounds as if I'm using the magazine to find answers to my own personal financial questions--well, there's some truth to that. Certainly I've never been much of an expert about cars. But I hope you'll agree that this issue is filled with articles that address significant opportunities for all of us--from the car guide to the cover package on retirement (beginning on page 78), from "Cut Your Mortgage Down to Size" (page 96) to "The Secret of Tech Stocks" (page 116).

The mission of this magazine has always been to deliver the best, most timely advice on how to save, invest and spend money wisely. Most readers don't have six weeks to devote, full time, to figuring out how to get the best deal on a new car or a mortgage, or how to understand the latest turn in interest rates, or how to determine which technology stocks offer the best rewards with the least risk. Our writers and editors, however, expend that kind of energy and more, developing a level of expertise that no single consumer or individual investor could afford.

For the past 25 years, MONEY has distinguished itself as a keen financial adviser on a slew of topics. But no area has been more important than our investment coverage. The so-called experts on Wall Street bombard individual investors with ideas and products that serve to pump up their profits, not yours. Our job here at MONEY is to sort through the many options and isolate the stocks, bonds and mutual funds that are most likely to perform. This magazine is our vehicle for translating to you what we've learned.

Of course, every vehicle requires periodic maintenance--tune up the engine, change the oil, rotate the tires. That's what we're planning to do at MONEY in the months ahead: some fine-tuning. Five years ago, only the Wall Street-obsessed would bring up the latest turn in the market at a social occasion. Since then, investing has become standard dinner-party conversation--no-load mutual funds with the main course, online trading with dessert. We've all become more sophisticated about investing. This magazine must reflect that change.

We're also trying to make the magazine easier for readers to use. You'll see some examples of that in this issue. The Money Pro column, for instance, which had been located near the back of the magazine, is now a part of the Wall Street department because, like Wall Street, it is about picking stocks. Similarly, the Monitor section, which focuses on banking, insurance, credit cards and other consumer issues, has been moved alongside the Smart Spending articles, which are also consumer-oriented.

I'll use this space in the coming months to elaborate on other changes as we institute them. Please let us know how you feel about the changes and share your ideas for making the magazine more useful.

You can write me at MONEY Magazine, Time & Life Building, Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020. Or e-mail me at managing_editor@moneymail.com. Thanks.

ROBERT SAFIAN Managing Editor