It is never too late to invest in mutual funds for retirement. As such, if you plan to invest in some of the best funds, the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank can provide you with valuable guidance.

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 learn about some of Zacks' highest ranked mutual funds with low fees you may want to consider.

Thornburg Investment Income Builder I (TIBIX) has a 0.88% expense ratio and 0.69% management fee. TIBIX is a part of the Allocation Balanced fund category; these funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. With yearly returns of 13.76% over the last five years, this fund clearly wins.

Franklin Global Equity 1 (LMPEX Quick QuoteLMPEX - Free Report) : 0.98% expense ratio and 0.75% management fee. LMPEX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. With yearly returns of 12.41% over the last five years, LMPEX is an effectively diversified fund with a long reputation of solidly positive performance.

JPMorgan US Value R5 (VGIFX) is an attractive large-cap allocation. VGIFX is a Large Cap Value fund. These funds invest in stocks with a market cap of $10 billion of more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. VGIFX has an expense ratio of 0.54%, management fee of 0.4%, and annual returns of 10.05% over the past five years.

There you have it. If your financial advisor had you put your money into any of our top-ranked funds, then they've got you covered. If not, you may need to talk.