This is god ignorance, and life based on ignorance. So how do you know it won't work? Take a look around. Read about history. Read about the most powerful men who have enjoyed a life to the hilt. None of them ever said, all right, now i have found a jesus or allah or chrishna, now let me go back and make a million on wall street. There's nothing more than that.
Swami Sarvapriyananda teaches the Katha Upanishad, which is one of the most popular Upanishads. The scripture concerns the story of a young man who goes to the house of death to find out what happens after death. The reply describes the nature of reality and the meaning of life.