Segment Information (Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Revenues
Premiums	$ 10,375	$ 9,703	$ 28,940	$ 28,795
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,346	2,628	7,174	7,507
Net investment income	3,959	5,410	14,367	15,704
Other revenues	484	518	1,497	1,486
Net investment gains (losses)	382	109	535	(427)
Net derivative gains (losses)	485	478	394	1,132
Total revenues	18,031	18,846	52,907	54,197
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	10,688	9,859	29,967	29,871
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	647	1,817	3,940	4,995
Capitalization of DAC	(955)	(1,071)	(2,850)	(3,149)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,131	1,054	3,053	3,174
Amortization of negative VOBA	(90)	(107)	(282)	(333)
Interest expense on debt	302	295	908	919
Other expenses	4,145	4,047	11,836	11,992
Total expenses	15,868	15,894	46,572	47,469
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	965	858	1,855	1,916
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	1,198	2,094	4,480	4,812
Operating Segments
Revenues
Premiums	10,376	9,685	28,942	28,755
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,247	2,522	6,876	7,205
Net investment income	4,849	5,193	15,016	15,373
Other revenues	495	518	1,525	1,502
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	17,967	17,918	52,359	52,835
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	10,780	9,854	29,730	29,191
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,331	1,426	4,004	4,252
Capitalization of DAC	(955)	(1,071)	(2,850)	(3,148)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	971	999	2,925	3,074
Amortization of negative VOBA	(82)	(96)	(255)	(298)
Interest expense on debt	294	292	898	885
Other expenses	4,126	4,003	11,808	11,933
Total expenses	16,465	15,407	46,260	45,889
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	791	656	1,924	1,878
Operating earnings	711	1,855	4,175	5,068
Operating Segments | Americas
Revenues
Premiums	8,121	7,142	22,057	21,186
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,733	1,879	5,300	5,480
Net investment income	4,085	4,221	12,484	12,476
Other revenues	435	456	1,341	1,336
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	14,374	13,698	41,182	40,478
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,196	8,052	24,907	23,993
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	972	981	2,902	2,939
Capitalization of DAC	(413)	(399)	(1,210)	(1,179)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	535	480	1,565	1,531
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	(1)	(1)
Interest expense on debt	0	1	1	5
Other expenses	2,386	2,380	7,225	7,085
Total expenses	12,676	11,495	35,389	34,373
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	435	660	1,706	1,853
Operating earnings	1,263	1,543	4,087	4,252
Operating Segments | Retail
Revenues
Premiums	1,806	1,869	5,302	5,405
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,229	1,311	3,717	3,814
Net investment income	1,930	1,965	5,913	5,906
Other revenues	241	275	755	785
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	5,206	5,420	15,687	15,910
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	2,607	2,555	7,429	7,400
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	550	567	1,643	1,683
Capitalization of DAC	(266)	(239)	(770)	(722)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	432	335	1,207	1,142
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	(1)	(1)	(2)	(1)
Other expenses	1,197	1,163	3,593	3,486
Total expenses	4,519	4,380	13,100	12,988
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	164	255	721	824
Operating earnings	523	785	1,866	2,098
Operating Segments | Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits
Revenues
Premiums	4,092	4,010	12,313	12,050
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	188	180	559	538
Net investment income	485	475	1,444	1,396
Other revenues	113	103	340	314
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	4,878	4,768	14,656	14,298
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	3,805	3,729	11,445	11,299
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	39	38	114	117
Capitalization of DAC	(41)	(37)	(113)	(107)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	40	38	120	109
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	666	634	2,011	1,900
Total expenses	4,509	4,402	13,577	13,318
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	131	125	382	340
Operating earnings	238	241	697	640
Operating Segments | Corporate Benefit Funding
Revenues
Premiums	1,555	451	2,292	1,438
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	55	60	168	172
Net investment income	1,391	1,464	4,347	4,259
Other revenues	70	71	218	214
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	3,071	2,046	7,025	6,083
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	2,154	1,033	4,078	3,194
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	295	279	882	844
Capitalization of DAC	(1)	(11)	(11)	(30)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	6	5	17	15
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	1	2	3	6
Other expenses	113	133	367	377
Total expenses	2,568	1,441	5,336	4,406
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	177	210	588	579
Operating earnings	326	395	1,101	1,098
Operating Segments | Latin America
Revenues
Premiums	668	812	2,150	2,293
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	261	328	856	956
Net investment income	279	317	780	915
Other revenues	11	7	28	23
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	1,219	1,464	3,814	4,187
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	630	735	1,955	2,100
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	88	97	263	295
Capitalization of DAC	(105)	(112)	(316)	(320)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	57	102	221	265
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	(1)	(1)
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	410	450	1,254	1,322
Total expenses	1,080	1,272	3,376	3,661
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(37)	70	15	110
Operating earnings	176	122	423	416
Operating Segments | Asia
Revenues
Premiums	1,736	1,939	5,297	5,742
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	382	487	1,179	1,276
Net investment income	670	738	2,033	2,162
Other revenues	26	27	82	78
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	2,814	3,191	8,591	9,258
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,331	1,535	4,046	4,357
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	327	394	992	1,175
Capitalization of DAC	(435)	(507)	(1,268)	(1,458)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	309	367	971	1,067
Amortization of negative VOBA	(77)	(89)	(241)	(275)
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	896	1,027	2,669	2,995
Total expenses	2,351	2,727	7,169	7,861
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	125	154	332	430
Operating earnings	338	310	1,090	967
Operating Segments | Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Revenues
Premiums	501	581	1,534	1,762
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	106	127	322	353
Net investment income	82	109	249	328
Other revenues	11	22	40	49
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	700	839	2,145	2,492
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	233	252	737	784
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	27	43	91	112
Capitalization of DAC	(107)	(165)	(372)	(511)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	127	152	388	476
Amortization of negative VOBA	(5)	(7)	(13)	(22)
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	352	463	1,103	1,383
Total expenses	627	738	1,934	2,222
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	7	23	25	49
Operating earnings	66	78	186	221
Operating Segments | Corporate & Other
Revenues
Premiums	18	23	54	65
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	26	29	75	96
Net investment income	12	125	250	407
Other revenues	23	13	62	39
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	79	190	441	607
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	20	15	40	57
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	5	8	19	26
Capitalization of DAC	0	0	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	0	0	1	0
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	294	291	897	880
Other expenses	492	133	811	470
Total expenses	811	447	1,768	1,433
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	224	(181)	(139)	(454)
Operating earnings	(956)	(76)	(1,188)	(372)
Significant Reconciling Items
Revenues
Premiums	(1)	18	(2)	40
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	99	106	298	302
Net investment income	(890)	217	(649)	331
Other revenues	(11)	0	(28)	(16)
Net investment gains (losses)	382	109	535	(427)
Net derivative gains (losses)	485	478	394	1,132
Total revenues	64	928	548	1,362
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	(92)	5	237	680
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	(684)	391	(64)	743
Capitalization of DAC	0	0	0	(1)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	160	55	128	100
Amortization of negative VOBA	(8)	(11)	(27)	(35)
Interest expense on debt	8	3	10	34
Other expenses	19	44	28	59
Total expenses	(597)	487	312	1,580
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	$ 174	$ 202	$ (69)	$ 38