Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies (Details)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
Description of Business and Significant Accounting Policies
Ownership interest of seed investment in new product (as a percent)	100.00%

The percentage of ownership interest held by the reporting entity in another entity.

No definition available.

Name:	wdr_OwnershipInterestPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	wdr_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration