Business Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010
Revenues
Premiums	$ 9,342	$ 6,484	$ 27,190	$ 19,856
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,998	1,452	5,856	4,339
Net investment income	4,257	4,364	14,669	12,745
Other revenues	720	624	1,878	1,681
Net investment gains (losses)	(55)	(342)	(309)	(324)
Net derivative gains (losses)	4,196	(244)	4,233	1,278
Total revenues	20,458	12,338	53,517	39,575
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,401	7,700	27,497	22,859
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	738	1,264	4,104	3,454
Interest credited to bank deposits	26	33	72	108
Capitalization of DAC	(1,852)	(766)	(5,119)	(2,255)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,858	573	4,295	2,184
Amortization of negative VOBA	(170)	0	(536)	0
Interest expense on debt	425	397	1,260	1,136
Other expenses	4,726	2,752	13,438	8,157
Total expenses	15,152	11,953	45,011	35,643
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	1,734	68	2,681	1,251
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	3,572	317	5,825	2,681
International [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	3,303	878	9,686	2,522
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	653	301	1,948	902
Net investment income	1,090	451	3,006	1,153
Other revenues	45	7	126	12
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	5,091	1,637	14,766	4,589
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	2,314	763	6,602	2,279
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	547	242	1,599	433
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(1,034)	(168)	(2,914)	(506)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	586	104	1,849	313
Amortization of negative VOBA	(151)	0	(479)	0
Interest expense on debt	0	(1)	2	2
Other expenses	1,983	506	5,687	1,489
Total expenses	4,245	1,446	12,346	4,010
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	268	2	768	101
Operating earnings	578	189	1,652	478
Japan [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,601	0	4,720	0
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	220	0	609	0
Net investment income	540	0	1,496	0
Other revenues	5	0	18	0
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	2,366	0	6,843	0
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	999	0	2,967	0
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	401	0	1,158	0
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(619)	0	(1,660)	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	318	0	981	0
Amortization of negative VOBA	(135)	0	(422)	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	909	0	2,502	0
Total expenses	1,873	0	5,526	0
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	178	0	467	0
Operating earnings	315	0	850	0
International Other Regions [Member] | Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,702	878	4,966	2,522
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	433	301	1,339	902
Net investment income	550	451	1,510	1,153
Other revenues	40	7	108	12
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	2,725	1,637	7,923	4,589
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,315	763	3,635	2,279
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	146	242	441	433
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(415)	(168)	(1,254)	(506)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	268	104	868	313
Amortization of negative VOBA	(16)	0	(57)	0
Interest expense on debt	0	(1)	2	2
Other expenses	1,074	506	3,185	1,489
Total expenses	2,372	1,446	6,820	4,010
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	90	2	301	101
Operating earnings	263	189	802	478
Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	9,342	6,484	27,190	19,856
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,908	1,398	5,652	4,179
Net investment income	5,052	4,314	15,014	12,705
Other revenues	715	624	1,870	1,681
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	17,017	12,820	49,726	38,421
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,619	7,291	27,350	22,349
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,537	1,259	4,529	3,451
Interest credited to bank deposits	26	33	72	108
Capitalization of DAC	(1,852)	(766)	(5,119)	(2,255)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,237	591	3,613	1,912
Amortization of negative VOBA	(151)	0	(479)	0
Interest expense on debt	328	294	979	824
Other expenses	4,630	2,710	13,135	8,037
Total expenses	15,374	11,412	44,080	34,426
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	434	420	1,629	1,168
Operating earnings	1,209	988	4,017	2,827
Operating Segments [Member] | Insurance Products [Member] | U.S. Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	4,159	4,234	12,619	12,874
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	566	539	1,695	1,634
Net investment income	1,526	1,515	4,627	4,514
Other revenues	216	185	620	562
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	6,467	6,473	19,561	19,584
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	4,816	4,685	14,115	14,253
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	255	243	742	714
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(213)	(204)	(643)	(627)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	186	221	631	666
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	1,016	998	3,079	3,021
Total expenses	6,060	5,943	17,924	18,027
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	142	185	573	545
Operating earnings	265	345	1,064	1,012
Operating Segments [Member] | Retirement Products [Member] | U.S. Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	393	227	839	730
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	620	500	1,828	1,474
Net investment income	800	856	2,378	2,550
Other revenues	77	56	227	159
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	1,890	1,639	5,272	4,913
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	585	378	1,362	1,207
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	408	394	1,196	1,205
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(478)	(270)	(1,195)	(766)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	347	153	783	594
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	2	1	4
Other expenses	867	615	2,329	1,784
Total expenses	1,729	1,272	4,476	4,028
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	57	129	279	310
Operating earnings	104	238	517	575
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate Benefit Funding [Member] | U.S. Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	724	402	1,796	1,547
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	69	58	181	169
Net investment income	1,289	1,216	3,925	3,641
Other revenues	61	59	182	181
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	2,143	1,735	6,084	5,538
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,287	963	3,400	3,115
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	327	380	992	1,099
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(6)	(6)	(24)	(17)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	4	4	14	12
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	2	1	6	3
Other expenses	126	113	363	346
Total expenses	1,740	1,455	4,751	4,558
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	139	98	466	343
Operating earnings	264	182	867	637
Operating Segments [Member] | Auto Home [Member] | U.S. Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	760	740	2,243	2,177
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	0	0	0	0
Net investment income	50	51	154	156
Other revenues	8	8	23	14
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	818	799	2,420	2,347
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	613	506	1,864	1,506
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	0	0	0	0
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(121)	(118)	(343)	(339)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	114	110	336	328
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	200	200	591	572
Total expenses	806	698	2,448	2,067
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(10)	20	(51)	54
Operating earnings	22	81	23	226
Operating Segments [Member] | Banking, Corporate & Other [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	3	3	7	6
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	0	0	0	0
Net investment income	297	225	924	691
Other revenues	308	309	692	753
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	608	537	1,623	1,450
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	4	(4)	7	(11)
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	0	0	0	0
Interest credited to bank deposits	26	33	72	108
Capitalization of DAC	0	0	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	0	(1)	0	(1)
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	326	292	970	815
Other expenses	438	278	1,086	825
Total expenses	794	598	2,135	1,736
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(162)	(14)	(406)	(185)
Operating earnings	(24)	(47)	(106)	(101)
Operating Segments [Member] | U.S. Business [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	6,036	5,603	17,497	17,328
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,255	1,097	3,704	3,277
Net investment income	3,665	3,638	11,084	10,861
Other revenues	362	308	1,052	916
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	11,318	10,646	33,337	32,382
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	7,301	6,532	20,741	20,081
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	990	1,017	2,930	3,018
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(818)	(598)	(2,205)	(1,749)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	651	488	1,764	1,600
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	2	3	7	7
Other expenses	2,209	1,926	6,362	5,723
Total expenses	10,335	9,368	29,599	28,680
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	328	432	1,267	1,252
Operating earnings	655	846	2,471	2,450
Significant Reconciling Items [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	0	0	0	0
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	90	54	204	160
Net investment income	(795)	50	(345)	40
Other revenues	5	0	8	0
Net investment gains (losses)	(55)	(342)	(309)	(324)
Net derivative gains (losses)	4,196	(244)	4,233	1,278
Total revenues	3,441	(482)	3,791	1,154
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	(218)	409	147	510
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	(799)	5	(425)	3
Interest credited to bank deposits	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	0	0	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	621	(18)	682	272
Amortization of negative VOBA	(19)	0	(57)	0
Interest expense on debt	97	103	281	312
Other expenses	96	42	303	120
Total expenses	(222)	541	931	1,217
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	$ 1,300	$ (352)	$ 1,052	$ 83