While retirees are optimistic about their retirement, older workers who haven't yet left the workplace, and women between the ages of 50–65, aren't quite so cheery.

Read: Confidence in retirement readiness–what's that?

That's according to a survey from American Funds, which found that there was surprising optimism among U.S. adults age 50 years or older who have at least $100,000 in investable assets and some responsibility for making investment decisions for their family.

Nearly nine out of every 10, the survey found, expect their nest egg to generate income and grow in retirement.

Considering Americans' worries about how to make their retirement savings last all through retirement, that's an unexpectedly large number—but 23 percent of those respondents had more than $1 million in investable assets, and 31 percent had between $500,000–$1 million.

Forty-two percent of those with more than $1 million in assets strongly agree their nest egg will grow in retirement, while those with fewer assets aren't as convinced.

Read: 10 questions to ask about retirement preparedness

Among those with assets between $100,000–$1 million, only 32 percent expect that nest egg to grow once they retire.

Seventy-four percent believe a well-designed portfolio can do better than the market and do better than average. However, blind spots may leave them exposed to unexpected losses.

Although 78 percent of respondents say that protecting their savings from market downturns is a key priority, and believe that lower volatility and downside resilience are important for their mutual funds, only 53 percent of respondents realize that index funds expose investors to the full ups and downs of the market.

And just about a third agree that index funds are potentially riskier for investors who have less time to build their savings or recover from a downturn.

Among respondents still in the workplace, only half expect to have more retirement income than their parents did.

And women under 65 are among those most concerned about protecting their retirement savings from market downturns.

Instant Insights /

Older unretired investors less optimistic than retirees

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