Fair Value of Assets and Liabilities (Unobservable inputs) (Details 4) - Ameriprise Financial [Member] $ in Millions		6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
IUL embedded derivatives [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Liabilities at fair value		$ 408	$ 364
Nonperformance risk	[1]	0.88%	0.68%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Liabilities at fair value		$ 1,965	$ 851
Nonperformance risk	[1]	0.88%	0.68%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals (as a percent)	[2]	0.00%	0.00%
Surrender rate (as a percent)		0.00%	0.00%
Market volatility	[3]	5.60%	5.40%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals (as a percent)	[2]	75.60%	75.60%
Surrender rate (as a percent)		59.10%	59.10%
Market volatility	[3]	22.30%	21.50%
Corporate debt securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Assets at fair value		$ 1,346	$ 1,411
Corporate debt securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)		0.50%	1.10%
Corporate debt securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)		3.40%	3.80%
Corporate debt securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Weighted average [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)		1.60%	1.60%
Other derivative contracts [Member] | Option pricing model [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Assets at fair value		$ 2
Other derivative contracts [Member] | Option pricing model [Member] | Weighted average [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Correlation		0.9
Asset-backed Securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Assets at fair value		$ 13
Asset-backed Securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Annual short-term default rate		4.80%
Annual long-term default rate		2.50%
Discount rate		16.00%
Constant prepayment rate		5.00%
Loss recovery		36.40%
Asset-backed Securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Annual short-term default rate		4.80%
Annual long-term default rate		2.50%
Discount rate		16.00%
Constant prepayment rate		10.00%
Loss recovery		63.60%
Asset-backed Securities [Member] | Discounted cash flow [Member] | Weighted average [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Annual short-term default rate		4.80%
Annual long-term default rate		2.50%
Discount rate		16.00%
Constant prepayment rate		9.90%
Loss recovery		62.80%

[1] The nonperformance risk is the spread added to the observable interest rates used in the valuation of the embedded derivatives.

[2] The utilization of guaranteed withdrawals represents the percentage of contractholders that will begin withdrawing in any given year.

[3] Market volatility is implied volatility of fund of funds and managed volatility funds.