Investments (Details 2) (Ameriprise Financial, USD $)	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Fixed maturity securities percentage of total investments	89.00%	89.00%
Investments rated internally	$ 1,200,000,000	$ 1,200,000,000
Amortized Cost	32,442,000,000	31,127,000,000
Fair Value	34,496,000,000	32,609,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	100.00%	100.00%
GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC mortgage backed securities, percentage of securities rated AAA	36.00%	29.00%
Holdings of Issuer Other Than GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC as Percentage of Shareholders Equity Maximum	10.00%
AAA
Amortized Cost	11,510,000,000	12,142,000,000
Fair Value	12,105,000,000	12,809,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	35.00%	39.00%
AA
Amortized Cost	1,942,000,000	1,843,000,000
Fair Value	2,087,000,000	1,899,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	6.00%	6.00%
Credit Rating A
Amortized Cost	5,012,000,000	4,449,000,000
Fair Value	5,442,000,000	4,670,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	16.00%	14.00%
BBB
Amortized Cost	11,818,000,000	10,536,000,000
Fair Value	13,050,000,000	11,408,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	38.00%	35.00%
Below investment grade
Amortized Cost	2,160,000,000	2,157,000,000
Fair Value	$ 1,812,000,000	$ 1,823,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	5.00%	6.00%

For an unclassified balance sheet, total of debt securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

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+ Details