Investments (Details 2) (Ameriprise Financial, USD $)	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Fixed maturity securities percentage of total investments	89.00%	89.00%
Investments rated internally	$ 1,500,000,000	$ 1,200,000,000
Amortized Cost	31,327,000,000	32,442,000,000
Fair Value	34,414,000,000	34,496,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	100.00%	100.00%
GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC mortgage backed securities, percentage of securities rated AAA	40.00%	36.00%
Holdings of Issuer Other Than GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC as Percentage of Shareholders Equity Maximum	10.00%
AAA
Amortized Cost	10,410,000,000	11,510,000,000
Fair Value	11,093,000,000	12,105,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	32.00%	35.00%
AA
Amortized Cost	1,704,000,000	1,942,000,000
Fair Value	1,915,000,000	2,087,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	6.00%	6.00%
Credit Rating A
Amortized Cost	5,551,000,000	5,012,000,000
Fair Value	6,200,000,000	5,442,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	18.00%	16.00%
BBB
Amortized Cost	11,826,000,000	11,818,000,000
Fair Value	13,469,000,000	13,050,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	39.00%	38.00%
Below investment grade
Amortized Cost	1,836,000,000	2,160,000,000
Fair Value	$ 1,737,000,000	$ 1,812,000,000
Percent of Total Fair Value	5.00%	5.00%

Amount of debt securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

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