Leases - Narrative (Details) - ft²	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020	Jan. 31, 2020
Leases
Option to extend - Operating	true
Option to extend - Finance	true
Option to terminate - Operating	true
Option to terminate - Finance	true
Minimum
Leases
Lease term - Operating	1 year
Lease term - Finance	1 year
Maximum
Leases
Lease term - Operating	6 years
Lease term - Finance	6 years
Option to extend period - Operating	20 years
Option to extend period - Finance	20 years
Option to terminate period - Operating	1 year
Option to terminate period - Finance	1 year
Corporate Headquarters
Leases
Lease term - Finance		15 years
Square footage		260,000

Area of a real estate property.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_AreaOfRealEstateProperty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:areaItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Indicates (true false) whether lessee has option to extend finance lease.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121609121&loc=SL77918673-209980

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeFinanceLeaseExistenceOfOptionToExtend
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:booleanItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Indicates (true false) whether lessee has option to terminate finance lease.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeFinanceLeaseExistenceOfOptionToTerminate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:booleanItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Term of lessee's finance lease renewal, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (a)(3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=121609121&loc=SL77918673-209980

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeFinanceLeaseRenewalTerm1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Term of lessee's finance lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeFinanceLeaseTermOfContract1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeLeaseDescriptionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Indicates (true false) whether lessee has option to extend operating lease.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeOperatingLeaseExistenceOfOptionToExtend
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:booleanItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Indicates (true false) whether lessee has option to terminate operating lease.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeOperatingLeaseExistenceOfOptionToTerminate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:booleanItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Term of lessee's operating lease renewal, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeOperatingLeaseRenewalTerm
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Term of lessee's operating lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_LesseeOperatingLeaseTermOfContract
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Term of lessee's finance lease termination, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wdr_LesseeFinanceLeaseOptionToTerminatePeriod
Namespace Prefix:	wdr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Term of lessee's operating lease termination, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	wdr_LesseeOperatingLeaseOptionToTerminatePeriod
Namespace Prefix:	wdr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RealEstatePropertiesAxis=wdr_CorporateHeadquartersMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: