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Segment Information (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
Segment Information (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2023 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2023 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2023 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2023 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2022 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2022 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2023 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2023 USD ($) Segment	Dec. 31, 2023 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2023 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2022 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($)
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of segments										6	6
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets (1),(2)	$ 687,584				$ 663,072				$ 687,584	$ 687,584	$ 687,584	$ 687,584	$ 663,072
Total revenues	19,028	$ 15,866	$ 16,623	$ 15,388	15,608	$ 22,283	$ 15,474	$ 15,405	66,905				68,770	$ 68,696
Number of Reportable Segments										6	6
Retirement and Income Solutions
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets (1),(2)	218,587				216,370				218,587	$ 218,587	$ 218,587	$ 218,587	$ 216,370
Net investment income from equity method investments												1.00%	6.00%	26.00%
Asia
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets (1),(2)	157,206				148,305				157,206	157,206	157,206	$ 157,206	$ 148,305
Net investment income from equity method investments												4.00%	12.00%	30.00%
Latin America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets (1),(2)	69,177				63,687				69,177	69,177	69,177	$ 69,177	$ 63,687
Net investment income from equity method investments												1.00%	3.00%	7.00%
MetLife Holdings
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets (1),(2)	148,524				148,749				148,524	148,524	148,524	$ 148,524	$ 148,749
Net investment income from equity method investments												2.00%	6.00%	26.00%
Group Benefits
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets (1),(2)	36,715				35,849				36,715	36,715	36,715	$ 36,715	$ 35,849
Net investment income from equity method investments												0.00%	1.00%	5.00%
One.U.S.Customer \| Retirement and Income Solutions
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									8,100
Japan
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets (1),(2)	$ 132,200				$ 125,100				$ 132,200	$ 132,200	$ 132,200	$ 132,200	$ 125,100
Assets, Total \| Geographic Concentration Risk \| Japan
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage												19.00%	19.00%
Revenue Benchmark \| Customer Concentration Risk \| One.U.S.Customer \| Retirement and Income Solutions
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Percentage												14.00%
Customer Concentration Risk
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Concentration Risk, Benchmark Description													10	10