Fair Value of Assets and Liabilities (Unobservable inputs) (Details 4) - Ameriprise Financial [Member] - Discounted cash flow [Member] - USD ($) $ in Millions		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
IUL embedded derivatives [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Liabilities at fair value		$ 438	$ 364
Nonperformance risk	[1]	0.89%	0.68%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Liabilities at fair value		$ 1,756	$ 851
Nonperformance risk	[1]	0.89%	0.68%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives [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)		0.10%	0.00%
Market volatility	[3]	5.40%	5.40%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives [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)		66.40%	59.10%
Market volatility	[3]	21.60%	21.50%
Contingent Consideration Liability [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Liabilities at fair value		$ 13
Contingent Consideration Liability [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Discount rate		9.00%
Contingent Consideration Liability [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Discount rate		9.00%
Contingent Consideration Liability [Member] | Weighted average [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Discount rate		9.00%
Corporate debt securities [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Assets at fair value		$ 1,339	$ 1,411
Corporate debt securities [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)		1.00%	1.10%
Corporate debt securities [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)		3.00%	3.80%
Corporate debt securities [Member] | Weighted average [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)		1.40%	1.60%
Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Fair values of assets and liabilities
Assets at fair value		$ 14
Asset-backed Securities [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		14.00%
Constant prepayment rate		5.00%
Loss recovery		36.40%
Asset-backed Securities [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		14.00%
Constant prepayment rate		10.00%
Loss recovery		63.60%
Asset-backed Securities [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		14.00%
Constant prepayment rate		9.80%
Loss recovery		62.70%

[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.