Customer Deposits (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 W	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum M	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum M	Dec. 31, 2011 Ameriprise Financial	Dec. 31, 2010 Ameriprise Financial
Fixed rate certificates				$ 2,004,000,000	$ 2,313,000,000
Stock market certificates				731,000,000	790,000,000
Stock market embedded derivative reserve				6,000,000	14,000,000
Other				36,000,000	43,000,000
Less: accrued interest classified in other liabilities				(5,000,000)	(19,000,000)
Total investment certificate reserves				2,772,000,000	3,141,000,000
Brokerage deposits				2,341,000,000	2,116,000,000
Banking deposits				4,737,000,000	3,522,000,000
Total				9,850,000,000	8,779,000,000
Amount of fixed rate investment certificates		$ 1,000,000	$ 1,000
Term of fixed rate investment certificates (in months)		36	6
Holding period of investment certificates (in weeks)	52
Percentage of participation in the market index in the first option	100.00%
Percentage of participation in the market index in the second option	25.00%
Returns on current first term certificates (as a percent)		3.00%	2.00%