Investing in mutual funds for retirement is never too late. And the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank can be an excellent tool for investors looking to invest in the best funds.

The easiest way to judge a mutual fund's quality over time is by analyzing its performance, diversification, and fees. Using the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of over 19,000 mutual funds, we've identified three outstanding mutual funds that are ideally suited to help long-term investors pursue and achieve their retirement investing goals.

Let's take a look at some of our top-ranked mutual funds with the lowest fees.

Columbia Balanced R

(CBLRX) has a 1.17% expense ratio and 0.57% management fee. CBLRX is classified as an Allocation Balanced fund, which seeks to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, and including precious metals or commodities is not unusual. With yearly returns of 9.44% over the last five years, this fund clearly wins.

BlackRock Basic Value I

(MABAX): 0.57% expense ratio and 0.42% management fee. MABAX is a part of the Large Cap Value category, and invests in equities with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. With yearly returns of 14.26% over the last five years, MABAX is an effectively diversified fund with a long reputation of solidly positive performance.

Nationwide HighMark Small Cap Core R6

(NWKEX): 0.8% expense ratio and 0.75% management fee. NWKEX is a Small Cap Blend mutual fund, and usually targets stocks with market caps of less than $2 billion, letting investors diversify their funds among other kinds of small-cap equities. With a five-year annual return of 9.51%, this fund is a well-diversified fund with a long track record of success.

We hope that your investment advisor (if you use one) has you invested in one or all of the top-ranked mutual funds we've reviewed. But if that isn't the case, it might be time to have a conversation or reconsider this vitally important relationship.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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