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.

Here are the funds that have achieved the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and have low fees.

Columbia Acorn European Adv (CLOFX Quick QuoteCLOFX - Free Report) : 1.21% expense ratio and 1.14% management fee. CLOFX is a Non US - Equity option, focusing their investments acoss emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too. CLOFX has achieved five-year annual returns of an astounding 11.2%.

Homestead Value Fund (HOVLX Quick QuoteHOVLX - Free Report) . Expense ratio: 0.62%. Management fee: 0.48%. HOVLX 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. This fund has managed to produce a robust 12.88% over the last five years.

JPMorgan Growth Advantage I (JGASX Quick QuoteJGASX - Free Report) is an attractive large-cap allocation. JGASX 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. JGASX has an expense ratio of 0.79%, management fee of 0.55%, and annual returns of 20.16% 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.