Investments (Details 3) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013 Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2012 Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2013 Corporate debt securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2012 Corporate debt securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2013 Residential mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2012 Residential mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2013 Commercial mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2013 Asset backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2012 Asset backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2013 State and municipal obligations Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2012 State and municipal obligations Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2013 Foreign government bonds and obligations Ameriprise Financial Positions
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Qualitative disclosure, Less than twelve months, Number of positions					517	120	168	76	114	22	26	34	9	153	13	22
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Less than twelve months, Fair value					$ 5,624	$ 1,351	$ 2,496	$ 801	$ 1,941	$ 408	$ 243	$ 453	$ 108	$ 420	$ 34	$ 71
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Less than twelve months, Unrealized losses					(181)	(13)	(79)	(6)	(47)	(5)	(8)	(5)	(1)	(35)	(1)	(7)
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Qualitative disclosure, Twelve months or longer, Number of positions					128	153	4	6	113	134	1	3	5	7	8	0
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Twelve months or longer, Fair value					725	927	70	70	528	658	0	21	86	106	113	0
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Twelve months or more, Unrealized losses					(123)	(148)	(9)	(3)	(76)	(107)	0	(1)	(3)	(37)	(35)	0
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Qualitative disclosure, Number of positions					645	273	172	82	227	156	27	37	14	160	21	22
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Fair value					6,349	2,278	2,566	871	2,469	1,066	243	474	194	526	147	71
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Unrealized losses					(304)	(161)	(88)	(9)	(123)	(112)	(8)	(6)	(4)	(72)	(36)	(7)
Balance of Credit Losses Impairment Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income
Beginning balance	157	294	176	303
Credit losses for which an other-than-temporary impairment was not previously recognized	2	1	2	2
Credit losses for which an other-than-temporary impairment was previously recognized		12	4	25
Reductions for securities sold during the period (realized)		(125)	(23)	(148)
Ending balance	$ 159	$ 182	$ 159	$ 182