The Best Mutual Funds for Your Retirement
The Best Mutual Funds for Your Retirement

by Christina Lavingia

Credio identified mutual funds with expense ratios below 0.5% and 20-year load-adjusted returns greater than 5% to find top performing funds for retirees.

You've worked hard to amass your retirement savings, and if your golden years are fast approaching, making the right investment makes all the difference. There are so many options for your nest egg with varying risks and volatility.

You could keep your retirement funds in a traditional savings account, where security comes at the expense of returns. Conversely, you could invest aggressively in stocks, but market volatility might not be worth the gamble.

The team at Credio wanted to identify mutual funds that meet the unique set of criteria retirees often look for when investing. Mutual funds offer investors a diversified assortment of stocks, bonds and securities that help mitigate risk. That said, funds can be more or less susceptible to market fluctuations.

We started by identifying mutual funds with expense ratios below 0.5 percent and 20-year load-adjusted returns greater than 5 percent, that were still open to new investors. From that list of funds, we then included a maximum of three from each fund manager (Vanguard, Fidelity, etc.) to curate a diverse range of funds that represent the broad industry and market indices. We then sorted them from lowest to highest net assets.

This information is not intended to be viewed or used as professional investment advice.

 

#25. Wells Fargo Dow Jones Target 2040

Net Assets: $1.85 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 6.23%
Expense Ratio: 0.37%
Investment Style: Target Date 2036-2040

 

#24. Dreyfus Basic S&P 500 Stock Index

Net Assets: $1.99 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.48%
Expense Ratio: 0.20%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#23. Elfun Trusts

Net Assets: $2.18 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.42%
Expense Ratio: 0.18%
Investment Style: Large Growth

 

#22. Franklin Flex-Cap Growth

Net Assets: $2.79 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.22%
Expense Ratio: 0.48%
Investment Style: Large Growth

 

#21. Columbia Large-Cap Index

Net Assets: $3.24 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.45%
Expense Ratio: 0.20%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#20. Franklin Small-Mid-Cap Growth

Net Assets: $3.3 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.59%
Expense Ratio: 0.48%
Investment Style: Mid-Cap Growth

 

#19. BlackRock Basic Value

Net Assets: $3.4 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.20%
Expense Ratio: 0.46%
Investment Style: Large Value

 

#18. Vanguard Growth and Income

Net Assets: $5.87 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.57%
Expense Ratio: 0.34%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#17. Schwab 1000 Index

Net Assets: $6 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.55%
Expense Ratio: 0.29%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#16. BlackRock S&P 500 Index

Net Assets: $6.06 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.22%
Expense Ratio: 0.36%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#15. MFS Massachusetts Investors Growth Stock

Net Assets: $6.34 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.08%
Expense Ratio: 0.39%
Investment Style: Large Growth

 

#14. MFS Total Return

Net Assets: $6.7 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.14%
Expense Ratio: 0.41%
Investment Style: Moderate Allocation

 

#13. Invesco Growth and Income

Net Assets: $7.15 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.23%
Expense Ratio: 0.38%
Investment Style: Large Value

 

#12. Franklin Growth

Net Assets: $11 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.37%
Expense Ratio: 0.46%
Investment Style: Large Growth

 

#11. Invesco Comstock

Net Assets: $11.1 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.50%
Expense Ratio: 0.40%
Investment Style: Large Value

 

#10. Invesco Equity and Income

Net Assets: $12.5 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.31%
Expense Ratio: 0.38%
Investment Style: Moderate Allocation

 

#9. T. Rowe Price Equity Index 500

Net Assets: $24 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.39%
Expense Ratio: 0.27%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#8. Fidelity Puritan

Net Assets: $24.2 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.43%
Expense Ratio: 0.46%
Investment Style: Moderate Allocation

 

#7. Fidelity Balanced

Net Assets: $26.3 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.35%
Expense Ratio: 0.46%
Investment Style: Moderate Allocation

 

#6. American Funds American Balanced

Net Assets: $83.8 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.22%
Expense Ratio: 0.29%
Investment Style: Moderate Allocation

 

#5. Fidelity Spartan 500 Index

Net Assets: $87.4 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.55%
Expense Ratio: 0.10%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#4. American Funds Capital Income Builder

Net Assets: $93 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 8.08%
Expense Ratio: 0.30%
Investment Style: World Allocation

 

#3. American Funds Growth Fund of America

Net Assets: $131 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 9.60%
Expense Ratio: 0.33%
Investment Style: Large Growth

 

#2. Vanguard 500 Index

Net Assets: $212 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.58%
Expense Ratio: 0.17%
Investment Style: Large Blend

 

#1. Vanguard Total Stock Market Index

Net Assets: $390 billion
20-Year Annualized Return: 7.68%
Expense Ratio: 0.17%
Investment Style: Large Blend

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