Investments (EITF info) (Details 5) - Ameriprise Financial [Member] $ in Millions	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) Positions	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) Positions
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions	888	434
12 months or more | Positions	427	337
Total | Positions	1,315	771
Fair Value
Less than 12 months	$ 12,098	$ 5,312
12 months or more	4,197	3,381
Total	16,295	8,693
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months	(231)	(34)
12 months or more	(196)	(92)
Total	$ (427)	$ (126)
Corporate debt securities [Member]
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions	366	150
12 months or more | Positions	79	70
Total | Positions	445	220
Fair Value
Less than 12 months	$ 5,808	$ 1,791
12 months or more	840	740
Total	6,648	2,531
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months	(105)	(8)
12 months or more	(42)	(24)
Total	$ (147)	$ (32)
Residential mortgage backed securities [Member]
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions	177	102
12 months or more | Positions	145	130
Total | Positions	322	232
Fair Value
Less than 12 months	$ 3,137	$ 1,772
12 months or more	1,675	1,467
Total	4,812	3,239
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months	(48)	(11)
12 months or more	(64)	(26)
Total	$ (112)	$ (37)
Commercial mortgage backed securities [Member]
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions	116	67
12 months or more | Positions	85	58
Total | Positions	201	125
Fair Value
Less than 12 months	$ 1,987	$ 1,178
12 months or more	1,245	783
Total	3,232	1,961
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months	(61)	(12)
12 months or more	(73)	(24)
Total	$ (134)	$ (36)
Asset backed securities [Member]
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions	49	36
12 months or more | Positions	24	26
Total | Positions	73	62
Fair Value
Less than 12 months	$ 722	$ 424
12 months or more	206	187
Total	928	611
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months	(7)	(2)
12 months or more	(5)	(3)
Total	$ (12)	$ (5)
State and municipal obligations [Member]
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions	165	76
12 months or more | Positions	80	34
Total | Positions	245	110
Fair Value
Less than 12 months	$ 391	$ 141
12 months or more	214	180
Total	605	321
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months	(7)	(1)
12 months or more	(7)	(10)
Total	$ (14)	$ (11)
Foreign government bonds and obligations [Member]
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions	15	3
12 months or more | Positions	14	15
Total | Positions	29	18
Fair Value
Less than 12 months	$ 53	$ 6
12 months or more	17	23
Total	70	29
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months	(3)	0
12 months or more	(5)	(4)
Total	$ (8)	$ (4)
Common stocks [Member]
Number of securities
Less than 12 months | Positions		0
12 months or more | Positions		4
Total | Positions		4
Fair Value
Less than 12 months		$ 0
12 months or more		1
Total		1
Unrealized losses
Less than 12 months		0
12 months or more		(1)
Total		$ (1)