DEBT AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended									12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 item	Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2012 Credit facility	Jul. 17, 2012 2012 Credit Facility	Jul. 17, 2012 2012 Credit Facility Administrative agent's prime rate	Jul. 17, 2012 2012 Credit Facility Federal funds rate	Jul. 17, 2012 2012 Credit Facility LIBOR	Jul. 17, 2012 2012 Credit Facility LIBOR One-Month Rate	Dec. 31, 2012 Non-recourse funding obligations letters of credit, and other temporary borrowings	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-recourse funding obligations letters of credit, and other temporary borrowings	Dec. 31, 2010 Non-recourse funding obligations letters of credit, and other temporary borrowings	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate)	Dec. 31, 2011 Golden Gate Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate)	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate) Surplus Notes item	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate) Series A1 Surplus Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate) Series A2 Surplus Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate) Series A3 Surplus Notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate II Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate II)	Dec. 31, 2011 Golden Gate II Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate II)	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate II Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate II) Non Recourse funding obligations accruing interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 30 basis points	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate II Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate II) Non Recourse funding obligations accruing interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 200 basis points	Dec. 31, 2012 PLC Credit facility	Jul. 17, 2012 PLC Credit facility	Dec. 31, 2012 PLC 2012 Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate III Vermont Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate III)	Apr. 23, 2010 Golden Gate III Vermont Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate III)	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate IV Vermont Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate IV)	Dec. 31, 2011 Golden Gate IV Vermont Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate IV)	Dec. 10, 2010 Golden Gate IV Vermont Captive Insurance Company (Golden Gate IV)	Oct. 10, 2012 Golden Gate V and Red Mountain	Oct. 10, 2012 Red Mountain	Dec. 31, 2012 Golden Gate V
DEBT AND OTHER OBLIGATIONS
Line of credit, maximum borrowing capacity					$ 500,000,000	$ 750,000,000
Line of credit, current borrowing capacity					600,000,000
Line of credit, amount outstanding																									160,000,000	50,000,000
Base of floating rate interest payments							Administrative Agent's prime rate	Federal Funds rate	LIBOR	one-month LIBOR												LIBOR	LIBOR	LIBOR		LIBOR
Interest rate added to the base rate (as a percent)								0.50%		1.00%												0.30%	2.00%	0.40%		1.20%
Maximum principal amount up to which commitment under the Credit Facility can be increased						1,000,000,000
Number of series of Surplus Notes																3
Outstanding Surplus Notes																800,000,000	400,000,000	100,000,000	300,000,000
Interest rate on Surplus Notes (as a percent)																	7.375%	8.00%	8.45%
Outstanding non-recourse funding obligations																				575,000,000		275,000,000	300,000,000
Non-recourse funding obligations held by external parties																				286,000,000
Non-recourse funding obligations held by nonconsolidated affiliates																				60,900,000
Non-recourse funding obligations held by consolidated subsidiaries of the Company																				228,100,000
Additional amount of obligations which can be issued under contingent approval																				100,000,000
Transaction period of financing for reserves related to a block of universal life insurance policies with secondary guarantees																																20 years
Maximum amount to be financed for reserves related to a block of universal life insurance policies with secondary guarantees																																945,000,000
Initial principal amount of note for deposit to a reinsurance trust																																	275,000,000
Maximum principal amount of note for deposit to a reinsurance trust																																	945,000,000
Credit enhancement period for Red Mountain note																																	20 years
Number of companies liable for the reimbursement of any credit enhancement payments required to be made	0
Principal balance of note																																	300,000,000
Maximum principal amount of non-recourse funding obligation																																		945,000,000
Non-recourse funding obligations	1,446,900,000	1,248,600,000	[1]											800,000,000	800,000,000					346,900,000	448,600,000													300,000,000
Year-to-date weighted-average interest rate of non-recourse funding obligations (as a percent)														7.86%	7.88%					1.22%	1.37%													6.25%
Repurchase of outstanding non-recourse funding obligations	101,700,000
Pre-tax gain on repurchase of debt	32,000,000
Maximum borrowing capacity																											580,000,000	505,000,000	625,000,000		270,000,000
Maximum amount up to which LOC will be periodically increased																											610,000,000			790,000,000
Letter of credit term																											12 years		12 years
Repurchase Program Borrowings
Fair value of securities pledged under the repurchase program	168,100,000
Repurchase obligation	150,000,000
Maximum outstanding balance	425,000,000	348,200,000
Average daily balance	266,300,000	147,700,000
Average borrowing rate (as a percent)	0.15%
Outstanding balance related to repurchase program borrowings		0
Average daily borrowing rate (as a percent)	0.14%	0.13%
Term of repurchase borrowings				30 days
Interest expense											92,900,000	90,800,000	71,400,000
Increase (decrease) in interest expense											$ 2,100,000

[1] Recast from previously reported information