In his last interview with the Herald before stepping away from the Reserve Bank, Wheeler said he would pick up where he left off before becoming governor - on the board of European industrial and investment group Thyssen-Bornemisza.
He also said he had plans to find board work locally.
"I've got a couple of board meetings coming up pretty quickly this year - one in Milan and one in New York," he said earlier in the year, in September. "That will get me back to Europe three to four times a year and then I'll look for some board work in New Zealand and Australia and hopefully do some charity work."
Wheeler told the Business Herald about his experiences travelling and living on the breadline as a young man, and the work he did on poverty at the World Bank.
"One of the best things I ever did in life was, twice in my 20s, I took off travelling around the world. I did it deliberately to experience a different side of life and try and understand hardship, disadvantage and discrimination.
"You're essentially living on your wits, sleeping on streets, living with almost no money." That fed a passion to take his economic training to the World Bank.
Wheeler said he enjoyed the management aspect of his job at the Reserve Bank, being chief executive of an organisation he believes is full of world-class people.
Reflecting on his five years as Governor, Wheeler said it had been fun.
"It's been a fascinating time given the complexities in the global economy. And what's been happening in the New Zealand housing market."
