Policyholder Account Balances, Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities (Separate Account Liabilities) (Details 3) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Separate Account Liabilities
Variable annuity	$ 75,174	$ 69,606
VUL insurance	7,352	6,659
Other insurance	34	33
Threadneedle investment liabilities	4,808	3,912
Total	$ 87,368	$ 80,210

-- None. No documentation exists for this element. --

No definition available.

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- Definition

The equivalent summary total of separate account assets representing contract holder funds related to investment funds managed by the entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition

The equivalent summary total of separate account assets representing contract holder funds related to other insurance policies, not otherwise described in the taxonomy.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The equivalent summary total of separate account assets representing contract holder funds related to variable annuity policies.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	amp_SeparateAccountsLiabilityVariableAnnuity
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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- Definition

The equivalent summary total of separate account assets representing contract holder funds related to variable universal life insurance policies.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	amp_SeparateAccountsLiabilityVariableUniversalLifeInsurance
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- Definition

Amount of liability for variable contracts that meet specified criteria that are backed by assets held in separate accounts and carried at the fair value of those assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 80
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6484091&loc=d3e19268-158472

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2303980

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03(a)(18))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 80
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6484115&loc=d3e19393-158473

+ Details

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