There is never a wrong time to invest in mutual funds for retirement. So, if you're still looking for the best mutual funds, the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank can be a great guide.

The easiest, most reliable way to judge a mutual fund's quality over time is by analyzing its performance, diversification, and fees. The Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, which covers over 19,000 mutual funds, has helped us identify three outstanding options that are perfect for any long-term investors' portfolios that is retirement-focused.

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

Brown Advisory Somerset Emerging Markets Adviser

(BAQAX) has a 1.49% expense ratio and 0.9% management fee. BAQAX 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 8.46% over the last five years, this fund clearly wins.

Eaton Vance Balanced A

(EVIFX): 0.97% expense ratio and 0.04% management fee. EVIFX is an Allocation Balanced mutual fund. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, and including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. With yearly returns of 9.45% over the last five years, EVIFX is an effectively diversified fund with a long reputation of solidly positive performance.

American Funds AMCAP R5

(RAFFX) is an attractive large-cap allocation. RAFFX is a part of the Large Cap Growth mutual fund category, which invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. RAFFX has an expense ratio of 0.38%, management fee of 0.3%, and annual returns of 11.7% over the past 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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