Financial Instruments Subject to Off-Balance Sheet Credit Risk or Concentration Risk (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Fair value of client securities pledged in securities lending transactions to other broker-dealers	$ 1,200,000,000		$ 882,000,000
Fair value of Schwab's client securities that can be pledged	18,200,000,000		17,100,000,000
Fair value of Schwab's client securities pledged to fulfill the short sales	1,600,000,000		1,200,000,000
Contractual value of margin loans to clients	12,800,000,000		11,600,000,000
Commitments to purchase First Mortgage loans	208,000,000		867,000,000
Commitments to extend credit	5,700,000,000		5,400,000,000
Fair value of mortgage-backed securities	48,900,000,000		39,500,000,000
Securities available for sale	51,618,000,000		46,123,000,000
Percent of residential real estate mortgage loans with interest only payment terms	40.00%
Percent of interest-only residential real estate mortgage loans with interest rates not scheduled to reset for three or more years	70.00%
U.S. agency mortgage-backed securities [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Fair value of mortgage-backed securities	47,100,000,000		38,800,000,000
Securities available for sale	18,645,000,000	[1]	20,476,000,000
Non-agency mortgage-backed securities [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Fair value of mortgage-backed securities	1,800,000,000		733,000,000
Asset-backed securities [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Securities available for sale	15,206,000,000		8,164,000,000
Securities Financing Transaction, Fair Value [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Fair value of client securities pledged in securities lending transactions to other broker-dealers	1,100,000,000		852,000,000
Fair value of borrowed securities from other broker-dealers to fulfill short sales by clients	276,000,000		121,000,000
Dividend Reinvestment Elections [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Fair value of Schwab's client securities pledged to fulfill the short sales	130,000,000		109,000,000
Open Option Contracts [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Fair value of Schwab's client securities that can be pledged	1,300,000,000		1,900,000,000
Resale And Repurchase Agreements [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Fair value of Schwab's client securities that can be pledged	14,300,000,000		19,700,000,000
Corporate Debt Securities And Commercial Paper [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Investments in corporate debt securities and commercial paper	9,200,000,000		8,000,000,000
Residential real estate mortgages [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Residential real estate mortgage loans	$ 7,300,000,000		$ 6,000,000,000
Residential real estate mortgages [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Interest-only loans period	3 years
Residential real estate mortgages [Member] | California [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Percentage of securities loaned secured by properties in California	46.00%		45.00%
Home equity lines of credit [Member] | California [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Fair Value, Off-balance Sheet Risks, Disclosure Information [Line Items]
Percentage of securities loaned secured by properties in California	51.00%		50.00%

[1] Mortgage-backed securities have been allocated to maturity groupings based on final contractual maturities. Actual maturities will differ from final contractual maturities because borrowers on a certain portion of loans underlying these securities have the right to prepay their obligations.