The challenges to the country’s retirement system are vast and complex.

A freshly released and exhaustive report from the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan agency often referred to as Congress’ watchdog, paints an unflattering picture of the nation's hybrid public-private retirement system:

• The Social Security trust fund is hemorrhaging cash and expected to be depleted within two decades, if not before.

• The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s multi-employer insurance program is also facing insolvency.

• Meantime, only half of Americans have access to workplace savings plans.

• Wage stagnation and rising health care costs have conspired to make saving for retirement impossible for low-income Americans.

• Those that make enough to save are shouldering the burden of navigating investment and longevity risk virtually on their own through self-directed 401(k) plans, as the list of employers that are sued for fiduciary breach in the plans they sponsor grows.

Industry stakeholders, regulators, consumer advocates, academics who focus on retirement security, and the legal community are well acquainted with the picture painted by GAO.

While the facts are not new, the course GAO recommends in the report is.