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3 Top-Performing Mutual Funds to Consider for Your Retirement Portfolio

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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 break down some of the mutual funds with the top Zacks Mutual Fund Rank and the lowest fees.

Vanguard Energy Investor (VGENX): 0.45% expense ratio and 0.43% management fee. VGENX is a Sector - Energy mutual fund, which encompasses a wide range of vastly changing and vitally important industries throughout this massive global sector. VGENX has achieved five-year annual returns of an astounding 17.79%.

Elfun Trusts (ELFNX - Free Report) : 0.17% expense ratio and 0.14% management fee. ELFNX is classified as a Large Cap Blend fund. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a "buy and hold" mindset. With yearly returns of 12.44% over the last five years, ELFNX is an effectively diversified fund with a long reputation of solidly positive performance.

Janus Henderson Research N (JRANX): 0.74% expense ratio and 0.69% management fee. JRANX is a Large Cap Growth option; these mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. The fund is mainly invested in equities, has a long reputation of salutary performance, and has yearly returns of 13.4% over the last five years.

These examples highlight the fact that there are some astonishingly good mutual funds out there. If your advisor has you in the good ones, bravo! If not, you may need to have a talk.

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