Retirement in America is a disaster for many. Is there hope?

For 72-year-old Jacqueline Withers, retirement has been rocky. And she’s not alone, as it turns out.

Eight years ago, the Jacksonville, N.C. resident stepped away from her job as a home healthcare aide because of a heart condition. She tapped into her Social Security. But it was not — then or now — enough to make ends meet. Her $1,700 monthly check only covers 90% of her very basic living costs. The remaining 10%? A measly pension takes care of that.

The trouble is, she said, “I don't have enough income to pay my medical bills and buy decent food to live on.”

Retirement in America is a disaster for many like Withers. And no one — politicians, financial planners, pick your own expert — seems to know what exactly to do about it.

I have been covering all this for years as a journalist, book author, and public speaker. Trust me, the state of retirement in America has never been this bad since the federal law that molded the majority of today’s retirement landscape, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, was signed into law 50 years ago.

Of course, the system has worked for many of us. Especially if you’ve been lucky enough to have worked for a company with an old-timey pension, received a match-enhanced 401(k) plan, and/or are a close relative of a Connecticut hedge fund guy.

And, for sure, there’s hope for the current generation of workers if there’s a will to fix the system and educate the masses. (Spoiler: It will be a tough slog to change things.)

Read more: Retirement planning: A step-by-step guide

The heart of the matter is this: ERISA, which was designed to protect our interests by overseeing things like 401(k) and pension plans, only works for some of us. It sets minimum standards for retirement plans in the private sector and requires plan administrators to act in your best interest. It does not, however, require any employer to establish a retirement plan.

There are reasons behind this mess.

Many small businesses, for instance, steer clear of the plans; owners claim they are too costly and complex to navigate. Another reason: Employers have slashed traditional pension plans over the years, partly because of those stricter ERISA rules and costs associated with those plans.

Those who won that traditional pension plan lottery were guaranteed lifetime income streams. Today, just 11% of private employees participate in traditional, or so-called defined-benefit, pensions, compared with around 35% in the early '90s, according to Mark Miller, a retirement expert and author of "Retirement Reboot."