Regulatory Requirements (Details) (USD $)		12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Subsidiaries of entity subsidiary	Dec. 31, 2011 RiverSource Life M	Dec. 31, 2010 RiverSource Life	Dec. 31, 2009 RiverSource Life	Dec. 31, 2011 Ameriprise Certificate Company	Dec. 31, 2010 Ameriprise Certificate Company	Mar. 02, 2009 Ameriprise Certificate Company	Dec. 31, 2011 Ameriprise Bank
Regulatory Requirements [Line Items]
Aggregate amount of unrestricted net assets	$ 1,600,000,000
Period of dividend or distributions (in months)		12
Percentage of previous year-end statutory capital and surplus (as a percent)		10.00%
Government debt securities on deposit with states under legal requirements		7,000,000	6,000,000
Statutory capital and surplus		2,700,000,000	3,700,000,000	3,400,000,000
Requirement of qualified assets under Investment Company Act of 1940					2,800,000,000	3,100,000,000
Actual amount of qualified assets					2,900,000,000	3,400,000,000
Maximum commitment by entity to Ameriprise Certificate Company under Capital Support Agreement							$ 115,000,000
Number of broker-dealer subsidiaries	4
Required minimum Tier one (core) capital ratio								7.50%
Required minimum total risk-based capital ratio								12.00%
Minimum leverage ratio of core capital to adjusted total assets under OCC regulations (as a percent)								4.00%
Minimum Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio under OCC regulations (as a percent)								4.00%
Minimum total risk-based ratio under OCC regulations (as a percent)								8.00%
Minimum tangible capital ratio under OCC regulations								1.50%
Percentage portfolio assets in qualified thrift investments								65.00%