Business Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010
Revenues
Premiums	$ 9,294	$ 6,584	$ 17,848	$ 13,372
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,969	1,482	3,858	2,887
Net investment income	5,098	4,061	10,414	8,381
Other revenues	592	544	1,158	1,057
Net investment gains (losses)	(155)	(14)	(254)	18
Net derivative gains (losses)	352	1,481	37	1,522
Total revenues	17,150	14,138	33,061	27,237
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,493	7,318	18,096	15,159
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,442	1,048	3,366	2,190
Interest credited to bank deposits	23	36	46	75
Capitalization of DAC	(1,698)	(756)	(3,267)	(1,489)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,381	1,014	2,437	1,611
Amortization of negative VOBA	(183)	0	(366)	0
Interest expense on debt	420	369	835	739
Other expenses	4,552	2,746	8,712	5,405
Total expenses	15,430	11,775	29,859	23,690
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	519	827	947	1,183
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	1,201	1,536	2,255	2,364
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	9,294	6,584	17,848	13,372
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,910	1,423	3,744	2,781
Net investment income	5,093	4,120	9,962	8,391
Other revenues	588	544	1,155	1,057
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	16,885	12,671	32,709	25,601
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,285	7,377	17,731	15,058
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,511	1,047	2,992	2,192
Interest credited to bank deposits	23	36	46	75
Capitalization of DAC	(1,698)	(756)	(3,267)	(1,489)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,253	702	2,376	1,321
Amortization of negative VOBA	(164)	0	(328)	0
Interest expense on debt	328	266	651	530
Other expenses	4,407	2,698	8,505	5,327
Total expenses	14,945	11,370	28,706	23,014
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	580	356	1,195	748
Operating earnings	1,360	945	2,808	1,839
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | Total International [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	3,255	817	6,383	1,644
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	665	312	1,295	601
Net investment income	1,056	274	1,916	702
Other revenues	39	4	81	5
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	5,015	1,407	9,675	2,952
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	2,237	751	4,288	1,516
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	540	41	1,052	191
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(961)	(157)	(1,880)	(338)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	683	109	1,263	209
Amortization of negative VOBA	(164)	0	(328)	0
Interest expense on debt	0	2	2	3
Other expenses	1,932	477	3,704	983
Total expenses	4,267	1,223	8,101	2,564
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	241	42	500	99
Operating earnings	507	142	1,074	289
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | Total International [Member] | International Japan [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,602	0	3,119	0
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	195	0	389	0
Net investment income	517	0	956	0
Other revenues	4	0	13	0
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	2,318	0	4,477	0
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,019	0	1,968	0
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	388	0	757	0
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(519)	0	(1,041)	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	371	0	663	0
Amortization of negative VOBA	(141)	0	(287)	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	823	0	1,593	0
Total expenses	1,941	0	3,653	0
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	132	0	289	0
Operating earnings	245	0	535	0
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | Total International [Member] | International Other Regions [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,653	817	3,264	1,644
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	470	312	906	601
Net investment income	539	274	960	702
Other revenues	35	4	68	5
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	2,697	1,407	5,198	2,952
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,218	751	2,320	1,516
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	152	41	295	191
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(442)	(157)	(839)	(338)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	312	109	600	209
Amortization of negative VOBA	(23)	0	(41)	0
Interest expense on debt	0	2	2	3
Other expenses	1,109	477	2,111	983
Total expenses	2,326	1,223	4,448	2,564
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	109	42	211	99
Operating earnings	262	142	539	289
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | US Business Insurance Products [Member] | Total US Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	4,268	4,317	8,460	8,640
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	565	546	1,129	1,095
Net investment income	1,572	1,495	3,101	2,999
Other revenues	204	188	404	377
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	6,609	6,546	13,094	13,111
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	4,634	4,721	9,299	9,568
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	246	237	487	471
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(214)	(217)	(430)	(423)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	214	206	445	445
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	1,038	1,031	2,063	2,023
Total expenses	5,918	5,978	11,864	12,084
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	242	199	431	360
Operating earnings	449	369	799	667
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | US Business Retirement Products [Member] | Total US Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	240	250	446	503
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	622	509	1,208	974
Net investment income	792	842	1,578	1,694
Other revenues	75	54	150	103
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	1,729	1,655	3,382	3,274
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	402	422	777	829
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	395	405	788	811
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(400)	(262)	(717)	(496)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	238	272	436	441
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	1	1	1	2
Other expenses	784	607	1,462	1,169
Total expenses	1,420	1,445	2,747	2,756
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	108	74	222	181
Operating earnings	201	136	413	337
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | US Business Corporate Benefit Funding [Member] | Total US Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	781	474	1,072	1,145
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	58	56	112	111
Net investment income	1,325	1,234	2,636	2,425
Other revenues	61	59	121	122
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	2,225	1,823	3,941	3,803
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,292	979	2,113	2,152
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	330	364	665	719
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(6)	(3)	(18)	(11)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	5	4	10	8
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	2	1	4	2
Other expenses	118	117	237	233
Total expenses	1,741	1,462	3,011	3,103
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	170	126	327	245
Operating earnings	314	235	603	455
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | US Business Auto & Home [Member] | Total US Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	748	723	1,483	1,437
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	0	0	0	0
Net investment income	51	52	104	105
Other revenues	7	8	15	6
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	806	783	1,602	1,548
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	719	506	1,251	1,000
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	0	0	0	0
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(117)	(117)	(222)	(221)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	113	111	222	218
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	198	193	391	372
Total expenses	913	693	1,642	1,369
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(51)	17	(41)	34
Operating earnings	(56)	73	1	145
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | Banking, Corporate & Other [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	2	3	4	3
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	0	0	0	0
Net investment income	297	223	627	466
Other revenues	202	231	384	444
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	501	457	1,015	913
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1	(2)	3	(7)
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	0	0	0	0
Interest credited to bank deposits	23	36	46	75
Capitalization of DAC	0	0	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	0	0	0	0
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	325	262	644	523
Other expenses	337	273	648	547
Total expenses	686	569	1,341	1,138
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(130)	(102)	(244)	(171)
Operating earnings	(55)	(10)	(82)	(54)
Operating Revenues, Operating Expenses & Operating Earnings [Member] | Total US Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	6,037	5,764	11,461	11,725
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,245	1,111	2,449	2,180
Net investment income	3,740	3,623	7,419	7,223
Other revenues	347	309	690	608
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	11,369	10,807	22,019	21,736
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	7,047	6,628	13,440	13,549
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	971	1,006	1,940	2,001
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(737)	(599)	(1,387)	(1,151)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	570	593	1,113	1,112
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	3	2	5	4
Other expenses	2,138	1,948	4,153	3,797
Total expenses	9,992	9,578	19,264	19,312
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	469	416	939	820
Operating earnings	908	813	1,816	1,604
Adjustments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	0	0	0	0
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	59	59	114	106
Net investment income	5	(59)	452	(10)
Other revenues	4	0	3	0
Net investment gains (losses)	(155)	(14)	(254)	18
Net derivative gains (losses)	352	1,481	37	1,522
Total revenues	265	1,467	352	1,636
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	208	(59)	365	101
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	(69)	1	374	(2)
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	0	0	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	128	312	61	290
Amortization of negative VOBA	(19)	0	(38)	0
Interest expense on debt	92	103	184	209
Other expenses	145	48	207	78
Total expenses	485	405	1,153	676
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(61)	471	(248)	435
Total of all Segments [Member]
Expenses
Adjustments to total revenues	265	1,467	352	1,636
Adjustments to total expenses	(485)	(405)	(1,153)	(676)
Adjustments to Provision for incomes tax (expense) benefit	$ 61	$ (471)	$ 248	$ (435)