Fair Values of Assets and Liabilities (Details 4) (Ameriprise Financial, USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Corporate debt securities (private placements)
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Fair value	1,713,000,000	1,712,000,000
Corporate debt securities (private placements) | Maximum | Discounted cash flow valuation technique
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)	6.00%	8.50%
Corporate debt securities (private placements) | Minimum | Discounted cash flow valuation technique
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)	1.10%	1.10%
Corporate debt securities (private placements) | Weighted Average | Discounted cash flow valuation technique
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Yield/spread to U.S. Treasuries (as a percent)	(2.00%)	(2.10%)
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Fair value	266,000,000	833,000,000
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives | Discounted cash flow valuation technique
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.93%	0.97%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives | Maximum | Discounted cash flow valuation technique
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals (as a percent)	56.40%	56.40%
Surrender Rate (as a percent)	56.30%	56.30%
Market volatility (as a percent)	20.20%	21.20%
GMWB and GMAB embedded derivatives | Minimum | Discounted cash flow valuation technique
Summary of the significant unobservable inputs
Utilization of guaranteed withdrawals (as a percent)	0.00%	0.00%
Surrender Rate (as a percent)	0.00%	0.00%
Market volatility (as a percent)	5.20%	5.60%