CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 610,847	$ 566,621
Cash and cash equivalents - restricted	80,099	76,595
Investment securities	245,381us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesCurrent	243,283us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesCurrent
Receivables:
Funds and separate accounts	33,571	39,110
Customers and other	147,379	216,843
Deferred income taxes	5,161us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsNetCurrent	7,454us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsNetCurrent
Income taxes receivable		7,747us-gaap_IncomeTaxesReceivable
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	18,219	14,980
Total current assets	1,140,657us-gaap_AssetsCurrent	1,172,633us-gaap_AssetsCurrent
Property and equipment, net	97,411us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet	92,304us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentNet
Deferred sales commissions, net	46,762us-gaap_DeferredSalesCommission	56,472us-gaap_DeferredSalesCommission
Goodwill and identifiable intangible assets	158,123	158,123
Deferred income taxes	21,531us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsNetNoncurrent	20,036us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsNetNoncurrent
Other non-current assets	12,904us-gaap_OtherAssetsNoncurrent	12,298us-gaap_OtherAssetsNoncurrent
Total assets	1,477,388us-gaap_Assets	1,511,866us-gaap_Assets
Liabilities:
Accounts payable	21,742	32,263
Payable to investment companies for securities	116,593	129,633
Payable to third party brokers	67,156	67,954
Payable to customers	58,646us-gaap_PayablesToCustomers	110,399us-gaap_PayablesToCustomers
Accrued compensation	61,367wdr_AccruedCompensation	67,574wdr_AccruedCompensation
Other current liabilities	54,573us-gaap_OtherLiabilitiesCurrent	55,143us-gaap_OtherLiabilitiesCurrent
Income taxes payable	25,153us-gaap_AccruedIncomeTaxesCurrent
Total current liabilities	405,230us-gaap_LiabilitiesCurrent	462,966us-gaap_LiabilitiesCurrent
Long-term debt	190,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtNoncurrent	190,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtNoncurrent
Accrued pension and postretirement costs	27,773	45,936
Other non-current liabilities	25,752us-gaap_OtherLiabilitiesNoncurrent	26,880us-gaap_OtherLiabilitiesNoncurrent
Total liabilities	648,755us-gaap_Liabilities	725,782us-gaap_Liabilities
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' equity :
Preferred stock-$1.00 par value: 5,000 shares authorized; none issued
Class A Common stock-$0.01 par value: 250,000 shares authorized; 99,701 shares issued; 83,558 shares outstanding (83,654 at December 31, 2014)	997us-gaap_CommonStockValue	997us-gaap_CommonStockValue
Additional paid-in capital	331,467	318,636
Retained earnings	1,073,084	1,041,909
Cost of 16,143 common shares in treasury (16,047 at December 31, 2014)	(529,225)us-gaap_TreasuryStockValue	(525,015)us-gaap_TreasuryStockValue
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(47,690)	(50,443)
Total stockholders' equity	828,633us-gaap_StockholdersEquity	786,084us-gaap_StockholdersEquity
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	$ 1,477,388	$ 1,511,866

Sum of the carrying values as of the balance sheet date of obligations incurred through that date and due within one year (or the operating cycle, if longer), including liabilities incurred (and for which invoices have typically been received) and payable to vendors for goods and services received, taxes, interest, rent and utilities, accrued salaries and bonuses, payroll taxes and fringe benefits.

Name:	us-gaap_AccountsPayableAndAccruedLiabilitiesCurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant