Commitments and Guarantees, Contingent Liabilities and Litigation and Regulatory Matters (Litigation Narrative) (Details) (Litigation And Regulatory Matters [Member], USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	29 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Feb. 28, 2010 Lederman [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Lederman [Member]	Mar. 31, 2005 Lederman [Member]	Feb. 29, 2012 State Street Global Advisors [Member]	Dec. 31, 2007 State Street Global Advisors [Member]	Feb. 28, 2010 State Street Global Advisors [Member] Fair Fund [Member]	Feb. 28, 2010 State Street Global Advisors [Member] Priac Separate Account [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Abandoned Property [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Abandoned Property [Member] Global Resolution Agreement [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Abandoned Property [Member] Regulatory Settlement Agreement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Retained Asset Accounts [Member]
Litigation [Line Items]
Number of states accepting agreement									20
Number Of States Needed For Agreement To Become Effective										20
Number of Complaints Filed Against The Company			11								4
Insurers Requested To Provide Information To New York Dept Of Insurance								172
Number of claimants who are current and former Prudential Insurance employees			235
Claims that settled	193
Pending Claims		42
offers of judgement totaling		$ 90
Pre-tax charge for payments to plan clients and certain related costs included in the Company's financial statements					82
Under the settlement, amount agreed to pay				28.1		313.0	52.5
Losses To Defined Benefit And Contribution Plans Caused By Breaches				$ 76.7