From philanthropy to pre- and post-immigration planning, if you have an investment, there's a financial strategy tailored to tax savings. 

Just don't call them tax shelters. That rubric conjures up those egregious deals—synthetically created entities designed to eliminate $100 million write-offs—that fell off the radar screen a few years ago faster than you can say KPMG.

Indeed, one tax attorney says criminal indictments against overreaching tax professionals are expected in the near future. 

"Corporate America's ability to avoid taxes gives a black eye to the high-net-worth individual," Ethan Eden, president of Diastole Wealth Management in Guilford, Connecticut, notes.

"Things like cross leasing never come up in conversations with my clients," he adds. "Even with offshore activities, people are not that excited about sneaking money into a country. Our clients are trying to stay on the right side of the law. The typical wealthy client doesn't want to be associated with things that won't let him sleep at night."

Protecting one's hard-earned wealth is no picnic, especially with government watchdogs on alert. So it's not surprising that the methods for protecting income and keeping the tax man at bay have made a sharp turn toward the fundamental and traditional: charitable giving, forming family partnerships, and, yes, real estate.

And while income, capital gains, and estate taxes are key concerns, watch out for state taxes. New York State is considering a millionaire's tax—something tried in New Jersey with mixed results.

"People picked up and moved," Jack Meola, a tax attorney and partner at Amper Politziner & Mattia says of the New Jersey experience. "The rich are the most mobile people in the world. I have clients with no state domicile. They're doing business all over the world. They've put their homes in trusts, so they personally have no jurisdiction. One client lives on a boat. Most move to nontaxing jurisdictions, like Las Vegas and Florida."

These mobile individuals set up trusts so that when their businesses are sold, they don't feel a tax pinch.

For the state, the effort backfires, he notes. Diminishing populations of wealthy individuals result in a trickle-down effect that builds pressure on low-income people to carry the tax impact.

A growing part of his business is international planning. "You have three kids: One studies abroad, stays, and marries someone from yet another country. That's a massive international tax issue," Meola says, one usually handled by establishing trusts under U.S. rule.