Long-term and Short-term Debt (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended																	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Certain Businesses of MetLife Bank [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 General Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 General Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 General Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Committed Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Committed Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Committed Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 General Credit Facility One [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 General Credit Facility One [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Consolidated Securitization Entities [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Debt Remarketing Series D [Member] Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Debt Remarketing Series D [Member] Senior Notes [Member]	Sep. 11, 2013 Debt Remarketing Series D [Member] Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior Debt $750M Maturing August 2042 [Member] Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Debt $750M Maturing August 2042 [Member] Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 American Life Insurance Company (''American Life'') and Delaware American Life Insurance (''DelAm'') [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 American Life Insurance Company (''American Life'') and Delaware American Life Insurance (''DelAm'') [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 American Life Insurance Company (''American Life'') and Delaware American Life Insurance (''DelAm'') [Member] Senior Debt Series E [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 American Life Insurance Company (''American Life'') and Delaware American Life Insurance (''DelAm'') [Member] Senior Debt Series C Tranche 1 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 American Life Insurance Company (''American Life'') and Delaware American Life Insurance (''DelAm'') [Member] Senior Debt Series C Tranche 2 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 American Life Insurance Company (''American Life'') and Delaware American Life Insurance (''DelAm'') [Member] Senior Debt Series E Tranche 1 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 American Life Insurance Company (''American Life'') and Delaware American Life Insurance (''DelAm'') [Member] Senior Debt Series E Tranche 2 [Member]
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Long Term Debt Aggregate Maturities, Year One	$ 1,400,000,000	$ 1,400,000,000
Long Term Debt Aggregate Maturities, Year Two	1,200,000,000	1,200,000,000
Long Term Debt Aggregate Maturities, Year Three	1,300,000,000	1,300,000,000
Long Term Debt Aggregate Maturities, Year Four	502,000,000	502,000,000
Long Term Debt Aggregate Maturities, Year Five	1,500,000,000	1,500,000,000
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal after Year Five	11,300,000,000	11,300,000,000
Short-term Debt, Weighted Average Interest Rate	0.12%	0.12%	0.17%	0.33%
Total interest expense		854,000,000	871,000,000	975,000,000
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Effective date of acquisition					Nov. 01, 2010																			Nov. 01, 2010	Nov. 01, 2010
Debt Instrument, Face Amount																						1,000,000,000	750,000,000	3,000,000,000	3,000,000,000
Debt Instrument, Fair Value																								3,000,000,000	3,000,000,000
Long-term debt, at estimated fair value, relating to variable interest entities															15,938,000,000	15,669,000,000	1,500,000,000	2,500,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage																				4.368%	4.368%	4.875%	4.125%			2.46%	1.756%	3.048%
Debt Instrument, Average Interest Rate															4.96%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date																			Sep. 15, 2023	Sep. 15, 2023		Nov. 30, 2043	Aug. 13, 2042			Jun. 15, 2045	Dec. 15, 2017	Dec. 15, 2022	Jun. 15, 2018	Jun. 15, 2045
Debt Issuance Costs Incurred and Capitalized																						10,000,000	7,000,000
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity							4,000,000,000			12,400,000,000			1,000,000,000
Collateral financing arrangements	4,196,000,000	4,196,000,000	4,196,000,000										0
Unused Commitments													941,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Expiration Date													Sep. 30, 2017
Fees associated with credit facilities							24,000,000	30,000,000	35,000,000	103,000,000	96,000,000	93,000,000		4,000,000
Liabilities of business transferred to subsidiary under funding agreements that are included in policyholder account balances		0	3,806,000,000	0		3,800,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Increase (Decrease), Other, Net	1,900,000,000
Line of Credit Facility [Abstract]
Federal Home Loan Bank, Liability for Debt Advances	0	0	0
Proceeds from Federal Home Loan Bank Advances		0	0	1,300,000,000
Federal Home Loan Bank Repayments, Long Term Debt			$ 374,000,000	$ 750,000,000