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.

Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Insights IR (GCVTX) has a 0.67% expense ratio and 0.52% management fee. GCVTX is a Large Cap Value mutual fund, which invests in stocks with a market cap of $10 billion of more, but whose share prices do not reflect their intrinsic value. With yearly returns of 11.17% over the last five years, this fund clearly wins.

American Funds Growth Fund of America 529C (CGFCX Quick QuoteCGFCX - Free Report) : 1.39% expense ratio and 0.25% management fee. CGFCX is a Large Cap Growth mutual fund, and these funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers. With yearly returns of 10.45% over the last five years, CGFCX is an effectively diversified fund with a long reputation of solidly positive performance.

Hartford Schroder Intl Multi Val F (HFYFX): 0.74% expense ratio and 0.7% management fee. HFYFX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. The fund is mainly invested in equities, has a long reputation of salutary performance, and has yearly returns of 14.11% 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.