INVESTMENTS - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended						6 Months Ended						6 Months Ended															6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended						3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended										1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 investment		Mar. 31, 2012 investment	Jun. 30, 2011 investment		Mar. 31, 2011 investment	Jun. 30, 2012 investment		Jun. 30, 2011		Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 Banks/financial Institutions	Jun. 30, 2012 Banks/financial Institutions Europe, excluding the United Kingdom	Jun. 30, 2012 Banks/financial Institutions United States	Jun. 30, 2012 Banks/financial Institutions United Kingdom	Jun. 30, 2012 Banks/financial Institutions Japan	Jun. 30, 2012 Banks/financial Institutions Other Countries	Jun. 30, 2012 Variable Interest Entity, Not Consolidated issuer	Jun. 30, 2012 Investment grade Banks/financial Institutions	Dec. 31, 2011 Investment grade Banks/financial Institutions	Jun. 30, 2012 Investment grade Public Utilities	Dec. 31, 2011 Investment grade Public Utilities	Jun. 30, 2012 Investment grade Sovereign and Supranational	Dec. 31, 2011 Investment grade Sovereign and Supranational	Jun. 30, 2012 Investment grade Other Corporate	Dec. 31, 2011 Investment grade Other Corporate	Jun. 30, 2012 Investment grade Parent Company	Jun. 30, 2012 Below Investment Grade Banks/financial Institutions issuer	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2011 Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2011 Perpetual Securities	Dec. 31, 2011 Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities Lower Limit	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities Minimum Upper Limit	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities Europe, excluding the United Kingdom	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities United Kingdom	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities Japan	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities Other Countries	Jun. 30, 2012 Perpetual Securities Investment grade	Dec. 31, 2011 Perpetual Securities Investment grade	Jun. 30, 2012 Change In Intent Impairment	Jun. 30, 2012 Change In Intent Impairment	Jun. 30, 2012 Credit Related Impairment	Jun. 30, 2012 Credit Related Impairment	Jun. 30, 2012 Tier I Perpetual Securities	Dec. 31, 2011 Tier I Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2012 Tier I Perpetual Securities A	Dec. 31, 2011 Tier I Perpetual Securities A	Jun. 30, 2012 Upper Tier II Perpetual Securities	Dec. 31, 2011 Upper Tier II Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2012 Upper Tier II Perpetual Securities A	Dec. 31, 2011 Upper Tier II Perpetual Securities A	Jun. 30, 2012 Credit Suisse Perpetual Securities	Jul. 31, 2012 Credit Suisse Subsequent Event Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2012 Credit Suisse Tier I Perpetual Securities	Jun. 30, 2012 Credit Suisse Upper Tier II Perpetual Securities
Schedule of Investments [Line Items]
Other than Temporary Impairment Losses, Investments, Portion Recognized in Earnings, Net	$ 343	[1]		$ 528	[2]		$ 546	[1]	$ 933	[2]																			$ 76	$ 184	$ 216	$ 184										$ 76	$ 251	$ 267	$ 295
Reclassified investments from the held-to-maturity portfolio to the available-for-sale portfolio, number of investments	5		1	0		8
Reclassified investments from the held-to-maturity portfolio to the available-for-sale portfolio, amortized cost	842		122			1,600	842
Reclassified investments from the held-to-maturity portfolio to the available-for-sale portfolio, aggregate unrealized gain (loss)	(268)		(23)			(270)
Available-for-sale fixed-maturity securities, amortized cost																											120
Available-for-sale fixed maturity securities, fair value																											141
Perpetual securities, interest coupons that were fixed at issuance subsequently change to a floating short-term interest rate																															floating short-term interest rate of 125 to more than 300 basis points above an appropriate market index
Maturity date (in years)																															25 years
Perpetual securities, floating short-term interest rate basis point above market index																																		1.25%	3.00%
Geographic concentration of credit risk for issuer of investments owned													34.00%	24.00%	8.00%	8.00%	26.00%																			67.00%	11.00%	14.00%	8.00%
Number of impaired Tier I securities (in investments)							2
Valuation Allowance, Deferred Tax Asset, Change in Amount				19
Percentage of unrealized losses attributable to securities that were investment grade																			79.00%	80.00%	68.00%	77.00%	65.00%	100.00%	74.00%	73.00%														93.00%	73.00%
Fair value of investments in an unrealized loss position	26,627						26,627				29,310	11,500																960	2,475		2,475		2,507
Total Unrealized Losses	3,057						3,057				3,536	1,900																389	588		588		633
Number of Issuers																												4
Percentage of unrealized losses attributable to a certain number of securities																												98.00%
Amortized Cost	52,264						52,264				52,275																		5,282		5,282		6,897													1,634	2,268	60	0	3,310	4,285	495	2,108			296	189
Unrealized gains (losses) on securities available for sale	2,272						2,272				1,761																																											(92)
Realized investment gains (losses) on sales and redemptions	$ (8)			$ (182)			$ 70		$ (326)																																														$ (25)
Number of issuers of VIEs not-consolidated																		159
Percentage that the lending policy requires that the fair value of the securities and/or unrestricted cash received as collateral be of the fair value of the loaned securities	102.00%						102.00%

[1] Includes $267 and $295 for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012, respectively, for credit-related impairments and $76 and $251 for the three- and six-month periods ended June 30, 2012, respectively, from change in intent to sell securities

[2] Consisted completely of credit-related impairments