Segment Information (Earnings) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenues
Premiums									$ 38,545	$ 39,067	$ 37,674
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									9,507	9,946	9,451
Net investment income									19,281	21,153	22,232
Other revenues									1,983	2,030	1,920
Net investment gains (losses)									597	(197)	161
Net derivative gains (losses)									38	1,317	(3,239)
Total revenues	$ 17,044	$ 18,031	$ 16,166	$ 18,710	$ 19,119	$ 18,846	$ 18,266	$ 17,085	69,951	73,316	68,199
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									40,102	40,478	39,366
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									5,610	6,943	8,179
Capitalization of DAC									(3,837)	(4,183)	(4,786)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									3,936	4,132	3,550
Amortization of negative VOBA									(361)	(442)	(579)
Interest expense on debt									1,208	1,216	1,282
Other expenses									15,823	16,368	17,135
Total expenses	15,909	15,868	15,053	15,651	17,043	15,894	16,316	15,259	62,481	64,512	64,147
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									2,148	2,465	661
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	$ 842	$ 1,198	$ 1,119	$ 2,163	$ 1,527	$ 2,094	$ 1,376	$ 1,342	5,322	6,339	3,391
Retail
Expenses
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,691	1,610	850
Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits
Expenses
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									164	149	140
Corporate Benefit Funding
Expenses
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									21	19	23
Latin America
Expenses
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									303	334	311
Asia
Expenses
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,265	1,394	1,527
EMEA
Expenses
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									492	626	699
Corporate & Other
Expenses
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									0	0	0
Operating Segments
Revenues
Premiums									38,548	39,022	37,583
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									9,113	9,541	9,085
Net investment income									19,789	20,484	20,394
Other revenues									2,020	2,033	1,954
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									69,470	71,080	69,016
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									39,565	39,478	37,746
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									5,334	5,661	6,015
Capitalization of DAC									(3,837)	(4,182)	(4,786)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									3,802	4,027	4,083
Amortization of negative VOBA									(326)	(396)	(524)
Interest expense on debt									1,200	1,178	1,159
Other expenses									15,806	16,254	16,596
Total expenses									61,544	62,020	60,289
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									2,326	2,378	2,344
Operating earnings									5,600	6,682	6,383
Operating Segments | Americas
Revenues
Premiums									29,496	29,066	27,415
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									7,048	7,255	6,838
Net investment income									16,469	16,661	16,280
Other revenues									1,768	1,800	1,737
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									54,781	54,782	52,270
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									33,237	32,640	30,922
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									3,882	3,935	4,136
Capitalization of DAC									(1,644)	(1,588)	(1,929)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									2,049	2,017	1,858
Amortization of negative VOBA									(1)	(1)	(2)
Interest expense on debt									2	11	10
Other expenses									9,736	9,584	9,683
Total expenses									47,261	46,598	44,678
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									2,201	2,464	2,337
Operating earnings									5,319	5,720	5,255
Operating Segments | Retail
Revenues
Premiums									7,228	7,280	6,528
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									4,933	5,074	4,912
Net investment income									7,814	7,887	7,796
Other revenues									989	1,059	1,018
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									20,964	21,300	20,254
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									9,995	9,851	9,028
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									2,198	2,245	2,331
Capitalization of DAC									(1,048)	(969)	(1,309)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,561	1,515	1,384
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									(1)	1	0
Other expenses									4,855	4,711	5,101
Total expenses									17,560	17,354	16,535
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									956	1,130	1,107
Operating earnings									2,448	2,816	2,612
Operating Segments | Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits
Revenues
Premiums									16,358	15,979	15,250
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									740	716	688
Net investment income									1,898	1,861	1,833
Other revenues									451	420	418
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									19,447	18,976	18,189
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									15,170	14,897	14,227
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									151	156	155
Capitalization of DAC									(151)	(143)	(141)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									164	149	140
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									0	1	1
Other expenses									2,703	2,571	2,379
Total expenses									18,037	17,631	16,761
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									499	467	480
Operating earnings									911	878	948
Operating Segments | Corporate Benefit Funding
Revenues
Premiums									3,019	2,768	2,767
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									259	226	247
Net investment income									5,710	5,684	5,506
Other revenues									286	286	278
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									9,274	8,964	8,798
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									5,447	5,106	5,180
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									1,184	1,140	1,233
Capitalization of DAC									(19)	(31)	(27)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									21	19	23
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									3	9	9
Other expenses									512	492	481
Total expenses									7,148	6,735	6,899
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									739	771	667
Operating earnings									1,387	1,458	1,232
Operating Segments | Latin America
Revenues
Premiums									2,891	3,039	2,870
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									1,116	1,239	991
Net investment income									1,047	1,229	1,145
Other revenues									42	35	23
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									5,096	5,542	5,029
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									2,625	2,786	2,487
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									349	394	417
Capitalization of DAC									(426)	(445)	(452)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									303	334	311
Amortization of negative VOBA									(1)	(1)	(2)
Interest expense on debt									0	0	0
Other expenses									1,666	1,810	1,722
Total expenses									4,516	4,878	4,483
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									7	96	83
Operating earnings									573	568	463
Operating Segments | Asia
Revenues
Premiums									6,937	7,566	7,801
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									1,542	1,693	1,722
Net investment income									2,675	2,886	2,943
Other revenues									105	106	92
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									11,259	12,251	12,558
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									5,275	5,724	5,755
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									1,309	1,544	1,690
Capitalization of DAC									(1,720)	(1,914)	(2,143)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,256	1,397	1,542
Amortization of negative VOBA									(309)	(364)	(427)
Interest expense on debt									0	0	0
Other expenses									3,611	3,975	4,317
Total expenses									9,422	10,362	10,734
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									457	582	565
Operating earnings									1,380	1,307	1,259
Operating Segments | EMEA
Revenues
Premiums									2,036	2,309	2,297
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									424	466	386
Net investment income									326	428	425
Other revenues									61	60	97
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									2,847	3,263	3,205
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									988	1,053	1,039
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									120	148	147
Capitalization of DAC									(472)	(680)	(714)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									497	613	683
Amortization of negative VOBA									(16)	(31)	(95)
Interest expense on debt									0	0	1
Other expenses									1,469	1,846	1,812
Total expenses									2,586	2,949	2,873
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									21	29	51
Operating earnings									240	285	281
Operating Segments | Corporate & Other
Revenues
Premiums									79	81	70
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									99	127	139
Net investment income									319	509	746
Other revenues									86	67	28
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									583	784	983
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									65	61	30
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									23	34	42
Capitalization of DAC									(1)	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									0	0	0
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									1,198	1,167	1,148
Other expenses									990	849	784
Total expenses									2,275	2,111	2,004
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									(353)	(697)	(609)
Operating earnings									(1,339)	(630)	(412)
Significant Reconciling Items
Revenues
Premiums									(3)	45	91
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									394	405	366
Net investment income									(508)	669	1,838
Other revenues									(37)	(3)	(34)
Net investment gains (losses)									597	(197)	161
Net derivative gains (losses)									38	1,317	(3,239)
Total revenues									481	2,236	(817)
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									537	1,000	1,620
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									276	1,282	2,164
Capitalization of DAC									0	(1)	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									134	105	(533)
Amortization of negative VOBA									(35)	(46)	(55)
Interest expense on debt									8	38	123
Other expenses									17	114	539
Total expenses									937	2,492	3,858
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									$ (178)	$ 87	$ (1,683)