Investments (Details 3) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2011 Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2012 Corporate debt securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate debt securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2012 Residential mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2011 Residential mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2011 Commercial mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2012 Asset backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2011 Asset backed securities Ameriprise Financial Positions	Sep. 30, 2012 State and municipal obligations Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2011 State and municipal obligations Ameriprise Financial Positions	Dec. 31, 2011 Foreign government bonds and obligations Ameriprise Financial Positions
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Qualitative disclosure, Less than twelve months, Number of positions					52	298	28	124	16	105	14	6	49	2		6
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Less than twelve months, Fair value					$ 590	$ 3,669	$ 339	$ 1,647	$ 206	$ 1,269	$ 182	$ 44	$ 543	$ 1		$ 28
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Less than twelve months, Unrealized losses					(5)	(87)	(3)	(40)	(2)	(33)	(2)		(11)			(1)
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Qualitative disclosure, Twelve months or longer, Number of positions					174	242	11	10	128	141	5	25	33	10	53
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Twelve months or longer, Fair value					1,188	1,389	231	259	690	717	29	153	155	114	229
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Twelve months or more, Unrealized losses					(194)	(430)	(12)	(41)	(125)	(298)		(18)	(33)	(39)	(58)
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Qualitative disclosure, Number of positions					226	540	39	134	144	246	19	31	82	12	53	6
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Fair value					1,778	5,058	570	1,906	896	1,986	211	197	698	115	229	28
Available-for-sale securities, Continuous unrealized loss position, Unrealized losses					(199)	(517)	(15)	(81)	(127)	(331)	(2)	(18)	(44)	(39)	(58)	(1)
Balance of Credit Losses Impairment Recognized in Other Comprehensive Income
Beginning balance	294	299	303	297
Credit losses for which other-than-temporary impairment was not previously recognized	1	1	2	14
Credit losses for which other-than-temporary impairment was previously recognized	12	4	25	9
Reductions for securities sold during the period (realized)	(125)		(148)	(16)
Ending balance	$ 182	$ 304	$ 182	$ 304