INVESTMENT OPERATIONS (Details 4) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	$ 2,232,805,000	$ 9,868,841,000
12 Months or More	1,904,974,000	1,020,842,000
Total	4,137,779,000	10,889,683,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(96,859,000)	(489,624,000)
12 Months or More	(116,560,000)	(114,680,000)
Total	(213,419,000)	(604,304,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	34,824,298,000	32,668,220,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	31,763,413,000	31,541,863,000
Securities in trading portfolio	2,800,000,000
Non-income producing investments	9,000,000
Policy loans excluding MONY acquisition	1,800,000,000
Interest rate on collateral loans on life insurance policies (as a percent)	13.64%
Minimum
Unrealized Loss
Interest rate on standard policy loans (as a percent)	3.00%
Maximum
Unrealized Loss
Interest rate on standard policy loans (as a percent)	13.64%
Below investment grade
Unrealized Loss
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	1,600,000,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	1,600,000,000
Securities in trading portfolio	315,100,000
Securities not publicly traded	360,100,000
Fixed maturities:
Unrealized Loss
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	33,937,420,000	32,006,429,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	30,898,028,000	30,849,808,000
Securities in trading portfolio	2,800,000,000	2,800,000,000
Change in unrealized gains (losses), net of income tax	1,224,248,000	(1,269,277,000)	819,152,000
Residential mortgage-backed securities
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	165,877,000	332,812,000
12 Months or More	67,301,000	209,818,000
Total	233,178,000	542,630,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(9,547,000)	(14,050,000)
12 Months or More	(2,717,000)	(10,486,000)
Total	(12,264,000)	(24,536,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	1,418,258,000	1,445,068,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	1,374,141,000	1,435,349,000
Commercial mortgage-backed securities
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	49,908,000	429,228,000
12 Months or More	102,529,000	13,840,000
Total	152,437,000	443,068,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(334,000)	(18,467,000)
12 Months or More	(2,030,000)	(1,238,000)
Total	(2,364,000)	(19,705,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	1,177,252,000	970,656,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	1,119,979,000	963,461,000
Other asset-backed securities
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	108,665,000	175,846,000
12 Months or More	537,488,000	497,512,000
Total	646,153,000	673,358,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(6,473,000)	(14,555,000)
12 Months or More	(29,477,000)	(54,993,000)
Total	(35,950,000)	(69,548,000)
Percentage of underlying collateral including student-loan backed auction rate securities guaranteed by the Federal Family Education Loan Program ("FFELP"), minimum	97.00%	97.00%
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	839,376,000	871,983,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	857,365,000	926,396,000
U.S. government-related securities
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	231,917,000	891,698,000
12 Months or More	280,803,000	6,038,000
Total	512,720,000	897,736,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(3,868,000)	(53,508,000)
12 Months or More	(5,414,000)	(570,000)
Total	(9,282,000)	(54,078,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	1,428,895,000	1,507,890,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	1,394,028,000	1,529,818,000
Other government-related securities
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months		10,161,000
Total		10,161,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months		(1,000)
Total		(1,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	20,172,000	51,427,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	16,939,000	49,171,000
States, municipals, and political subdivisions
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	1,905,000	172,157,000
12 Months or More	10,481,000	335,000
Total	12,386,000	172,492,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(134,000)	(8,113,000)
12 Months or More	(297,000)	(178,000)
Total	(431,000)	(8,291,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	1,687,689,000	1,410,829,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	1,391,526,000	1,315,457,000
Corporate bonds
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	1,657,103,000	7,480,163,000
12 Months or More	776,863,000	271,535,000
Total	2,433,966,000	7,751,698,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(76,285,000)	(353,069,000)
12 Months or More	(62,690,000)	(38,744,000)
Total	(138,975,000)	(391,813,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	27,365,778,000	25,748,576,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	24,744,050,000	24,630,156,000
Equity securities
Fair Value
Less Than 12 Months	17,430,000	376,776,000
12 Months or More	129,509,000	21,764,000
Total	146,939,000	398,540,000
Unrealized Loss
Less Than 12 Months	(218,000)	(27,861,000)
12 Months or More	(13,935,000)	(8,471,000)
Total	(14,153,000)	(36,332,000)
Available-for-sale securities, fair value	735,306,000	581,209,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost	713,813,000	611,473,000
Securities in trading portfolio	21,500,000	21,200,000
Change in unrealized gains (losses), net of income tax	$ 33,642,000	$ (20,899,000)	$ 8,484,000