Actually, in most cases, being poor is a result of bad decision making. Where those bad decisions arise is the key. It may be your parents, or culture, or whatever, but most of us are the product of our decisions. We may not think the decisions are bad at the time, but if we are not where we want to be, then reviewing our decisions is the best way to figure out how we got where we are. It's not a function of intelligence, it's a function of how we were raised, and how we reacted to it.
Earl Nightingale said: We become what we think about. A person who is thinking about a concrete and worthwhile goal is going to reach it, because that's what he's thinking about. Conversely, the person who has no goal, who doesn't know where he's going, and whose thoughts must therefore be thoughts of confusion, anxiety, fear, and worry will thereby create a life of frustration, fear, anxiety and worry. And if he thinks about nothing ... he becomes nothing.
Change your thoughts, and you can change your life.