Fair Values of Assets and Liabilities (Details 2) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended														3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2013 Available-for-Sale Securities, at fair value Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2012 Available-for-Sale Securities, at fair value Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2013 Corporate debt securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2012 Corporate debt securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2013 Residential mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2012 Residential mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2013 Commercial mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2012 Commercial mortgage backed securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2013 Asset backed securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2012 Asset backed securities Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2013 Common Stocks Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2012 Common Stocks Ameriprise Financial	Dec. 31, 2011 Other structured investments Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2013 GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives Ameriprise Financial	Mar. 31, 2012 GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives Ameriprise Financial
Summary of changes in Level 3 assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis
Balance, at the beginning of the period				$ 2,438,000,000	$ 1,814,000,000	$ 1,764,000,000	$ 1,355,000,000	$ 284,000,000	$ 215,000,000	$ 206,000,000	$ 50,000,000	$ 178,000,000	$ 189,000,000	$ 6,000,000	$ 5,000,000	$ 1,814,000,000
Total gains (losses) included in Net income					(5,000,000)				(5,000,000)
Total gains (losses) included in Other comprehensive income				3,000,000	22,000,000		4,000,000		16,000,000	(2,000,000)	2,000,000	5,000,000
Purchases				193,000,000	141,000,000	54,000,000	115,000,000		23,000,000		2,000,000	139,000,000			1,000,000
Settlements				(55,000,000)	(73,000,000)	(54,000,000)	(52,000,000)		(14,000,000)		(2,000,000)	(1,000,000)	(5,000,000)
Transfers into Level 3					50,000,000				6,000,000		37,000,000		7,000,000
Transfers out of Level 3				(277,000,000)				(276,000,000)						(1,000,000)
Balance, at the end of the period				2,302,000,000	1,949,000,000	1,764,000,000	1,422,000,000	8,000,000	241,000,000	204,000,000	89,000,000	321,000,000	191,000,000	5,000,000	6,000,000	1,814,000,000
Summary of changes in Level 3 liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis
Balance, at the beginning of the period																	(833,000,000)	(1,585,000,000)
Total Gains (Losses) Included in Net Income																	618,000,000	784,000,000
Issues																	(50,000,000)	(39,000,000)
Settlements																	(1,000,000)
Balance, at the end of the period																	(266,000,000)	(840,000,000)
Cumulative decrease to the embedded derivative liability	295,000,000	389,000,000															(65,000,000)	(115,000,000)
Transfers between Level 1 and Level 2			$ 0