"I see that as a veiled reminder that tax reform is something they still want to do. The 401(k) industry is still a large expense to Treasury and they want to limit the highly compensated from saving on a tax deferred basis," Parks said. "They haven't given up."

He believes that by meddling with the 401(k) system as it stands it would be shooting everyone in the foot, particularly middle class Americans.

President Obama said in his speech that he wants to do more to help Americans save for retirement.

"Today, most workers don't have a pension. A Social Security check often isn't enough on its own. And while the stock market has doubled over the last five years, that doesn't help folks who don't have 401(k)s," he said.

He said he would direct the Treasury department to create a new way for working Americans to save without the risk of losing what they put in. The MyRA is a rebranded proposal that has been around for years called the R-Bond. The R-Bond is essentially a Treasury bond that allows anyone to invest in their retirement, but when the money in a person's R-Bond reaches a certain threshold, it must be rolled over into a traditional IRA.

"I like the branding, but the reality is the administration is still misguided," Parks said. The Obama administration has said that there are no providers out there who will work with small businesses or small accounts, but that's exactly what The Online 401(k)'s market is. There are many options out there for small businesses to offer retirement plans to their employees.

The MyRA will pay the same amount of interest as is offered on the Federal Thrift Savings plan. In 2012, that amount was 1.5 percent, but it ranged as high as 3.6 percent between 2003 and 2012. Employers would facilitate the deferral through payroll but there would be no administrative fees attached to the program.

Employees can contribute as little as $5 at a time to their account but once their balance reaches $15,000 or they've had the account for 30 years, it will be automatically rolled into a Roth IRA. When the money from the accounts is paid out, participants will get what little interest their account has accrued over time. The bonds purchased within the MyRA accounts are backed by the U.S. government so participants will never lose their principal.

The MyRA idea, while welcome, is a bit too complicated, Parks said. For example, how will accounts be converted into IRAs, he said. That make Parks wonder if there isn't a better choice out there, like the concept of a payroll deduction IRA, which has been bandied about recently.

Brian Graff, CEO of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries and NAPA, disagreed with Obama's characterization that only the rich benefit from the 401(k) system.

"In fact, 80 percent of 401(k) plan participants are middle class Americans making less than $100,000," he said. "The president said the tax incentives for retirement savings are 'upside-down' – meaning they mostly go to the wealthy. In reality, households making more than $200,000 only get 17 percent of the tax benefits from 401(k) plans, while middle income households enjoy the majority of such tax benefits."

Ed Ferrigno, vice president of Washington affairs for the Plan Sponsor Council of America, said that he felt Obama's retirement comments were one step forward, five steps back. He was happy to hear about the MyRA proposal but also was disappointed the President attacked the current retirement system, but it is "consistent with what has been in his budget for the last couple of years."

Obama's comment that the "current tax structure does nothing for the middle class is really disappointing. It is the current tax structure that allows employers who are willing to offer plans. The real point is this has the potential to chill the willingness of employers to offer this," Ferrigno said.