Future Policy Benefits and Claims and Separate Account Liabilities (Details 2) (Ameriprise Financial, USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Equity indexed annuity accumulated host values Y
Separate Account Liabilities
Variable annuity variable sub-accounts	$ 57,556	$ 57,862
VUL insurance variable sub-accounts	5,575	5,887
Other insurance variable sub-accounts	43	46
Threadneedle investment liabilities	3,606	4,535
Total	$ 66,780	$ 68,330
Contract term of equity indexed annuities (in years)			7
Minimum interest rate guarantee on equity indexed annuities (as a percent)			3.00%
Percentage of initial premium from equity indexed annuity product receiving a minimum interest rate guarantee			90.00%