Contingencies, Commitments and Guarantees (Contingencies - Narrative) (Details) (USD $)			12 Months Ended							3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Superfund Site Settlement Agreements [Member] Claims	Dec. 31, 2013 Merrill Haviland, et Al v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company [Member] Plaintiffs	Dec. 31, 2013 Total Asset Recovery Services, LLC Florida v. MetLife, Inc et Al [Member] Contracts	Dec. 31, 2013 C-Mart, Inc. V. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, Et Al [Member] Plaintiffs	Dec. 31, 2013 Insurance-related Assessments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Insurance-related Assessments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Insurance-related Assessments [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Unclaimed Property [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Derivative Actions And Demands [Member] Plaintiffs	Mar. 31, 2013 Met Life Bank Mortgage Regulatory and Law Enforcement Authorities' Inquiries [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Met Life Bank Mortgage Regulatory and Law Enforcement Authorities' Inquiries [Member]
Loss Contingencies
Number of regulatory matters and other claims			2
Damages Sought			less than $1 million and an additional amount			$500 for each violation
Damages Sought					$ 767,000,000
Assumed average face amount of life insurance policies in lawsuit					120,000
Number of life insurance contracts named in legal action					9,022
Number of plaintiffs				45		36,000					5
Loss Contingency, Range of Possible Loss, Maximum													3,200,000
Maximum estimate of aggregate costs to resolve matter			1,000,000
Multistate Examination Payment and Expected Benefit Payments to Policyholders										52,000,000
Maximum estimate of costs for environmental testing			100,000
Loss Contingency, Estimate of Possible Loss							(31,000,000)	38,000,000	40,000,000
Litigation Settlement, Amount												46,000,000
Loss Contingency, Range of Possible Loss, Portion Not Accrued	$ 0	$ 520,000,000