Segment Information (Earnings) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Revenues
Premiums	$ 9,219	$ 9,151
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,421	2,291
Net investment income	5,035	6,077
Other revenues	478	480
Net investment gains (losses)	(411)	314
Net derivative gains (losses)	343	(630)
Total revenues	17,085	17,683
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,627	9,708
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,469	2,590
Capitalization of DAC	(1,046)	(1,256)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,058	824
Amortization of negative VOBA	(115)	(146)
Interest expense on debt	312	321
Other expenses	3,954	4,395
Total expenses	(15,259)	(16,436)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(484)	(252)
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	1,342	995
Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	9,217	9,103
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,323	2,211
Net investment income	5,085	5,082
Other revenues	491	481
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	17,116	16,877
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,373	9,025
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,401	1,554
Capitalization of DAC	(1,046)	(1,256)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,050	1,016
Amortization of negative VOBA	(103)	(131)
Interest expense on debt	294	288
Other expenses	3,951	4,083
Total expenses	(14,920)	(14,579)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(604)	(641)
Operating earnings	1,592	1,657
Operating Segments [Member] | Americas [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	6,695	6,512
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,792	1,640
Net investment income	4,202	4,081
Other revenues	427	428
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	13,116	12,661
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	7,680	7,364
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	971	1,065
Capitalization of DAC	(358)	(529)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	548	450
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	(1)
Interest expense on debt	2	1
Other expenses	2,292	2,377
Total expenses	(11,135)	(10,727)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(643)	(641)
Operating earnings	1,338	1,293
Operating Segments [Member] | Retail [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,724	1,547
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,247	1,167
Net investment income	2,014	1,961
Other revenues	245	243
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	5,230	4,918
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	2,407	2,153
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	555	579
Capitalization of DAC	(234)	(374)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	429	331
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0
Other expenses	1,142	1,278
Total expenses	(4,299)	(3,967)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(319)	(325)
Operating earnings	612	626
Operating Segments [Member] | Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	4,002	3,874
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	177	180
Net investment income	453	453
Other revenues	107	108
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	4,739	4,615
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	3,781	3,640
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	40	39
Capitalization of DAC	(34)	(33)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	36	34
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0
Other expenses	628	588
Total expenses	(4,451)	(4,268)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(100)	(117)
Operating earnings	188	230
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate Benefit Funding [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	301	416
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	57	68
Net investment income	1,410	1,390
Other revenues	68	73
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	1,836	1,947
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	888	1,017
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	278	343
Capitalization of DAC	(1)	(17)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	4	11
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	2	2
Other expenses	120	139
Total expenses	(1,291)	(1,495)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(190)	(158)
Operating earnings	355	294
Operating Segments [Member] | Latin America [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	668	675
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	311	225
Net investment income	325	277
Other revenues	7	4
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	1,311	1,181
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	604	554
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	98	104
Capitalization of DAC	(89)	(105)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	79	74
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	(1)
Interest expense on debt	0	(1)
Other expenses	402	372
Total expenses	(1,094)	(997)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(34)	(41)
Operating earnings	183	143
Operating Segments [Member] | Asia [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,890	1,998
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	389	444
Net investment income	693	732
Other revenues	27	13
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	2,999	3,187
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,397	1,415
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	387	442
Capitalization of DAC	(494)	(546)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	338	401
Amortization of negative VOBA	(94)	(113)
Interest expense on debt	0	0
Other expenses	990	1,094
Total expenses	(2,524)	(2,693)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(147)	(161)
Operating earnings	328	333
Operating Segments [Member] | Europe, the Middle East and Africa [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	597	567
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	109	91
Net investment income	123	128
Other revenues	16	27
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	845	813
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	261	237
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	34	35
Capitalization of DAC	(176)	(177)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	164	165
Amortization of negative VOBA	(9)	(17)
Interest expense on debt	0	1
Other expenses	456	448
Total expenses	(730)	(692)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(27)	(34)
Operating earnings	88	87
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate & Other [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	35	26
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	33	36
Net investment income	67	141
Other revenues	21	13
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	156	216
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	35	9
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	9	12
Capitalization of DAC	(18)	(4)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	0	0
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	292	286
Other expenses	213	164
Total expenses	(531)	(467)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	213	195
Operating earnings	(162)	(56)
Significant Reconciling Items [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	2	48
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	98	80
Net investment income	(50)	995
Other revenues	(13)	(1)
Net investment gains (losses)	(411)	314
Net derivative gains (losses)	343	(630)
Total revenues	(31)	806
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	254	683
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	68	1,036
Capitalization of DAC	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	8	(192)
Amortization of negative VOBA	(12)	(15)
Interest expense on debt	18	33
Other expenses	3	312
Total expenses	(339)	(1,857)
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	$ 120	$ 389