Business Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011
Revenues
Premiums	$ 9,129	$ 8,554
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,078	1,889
Net investment income	6,200	5,313
Other revenues	597	566
Net investment gains (losses)	(110)	(99)
Net derivative gains (losses)	(1,978)	(315)
Total revenues	15,916	15,908
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,447	8,609
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	2,557	1,924
Capitalization of DAC	(1,364)	(1,264)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	714	939
Amortization of negative VOBA	(155)	(183)
Interest expense on debt	358	415
Other expenses	4,768	4,183
Total expenses	16,325	14,623
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(275)	361
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	(134)	924
The Americas [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	6,402	6,018
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,527	1,393
Net investment income	4,047	3,845
Other revenues	386	347
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	12,362	11,603
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	7,225	6,817
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,077	1,060
Capitalization of DAC	(598)	(630)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	499	504
Amortization of negative VOBA	(2)	(2)
Interest expense on debt	3	2
Other expenses	2,426	2,324
Total expenses	10,630	10,075
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	574	504
Operating earnings	1,158	1,024
Latin America [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	686	594
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	196	189
Net investment income	299	166
Other revenues	5	4
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	1,186	953
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	592	424
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	100	91
Capitalization of DAC	(84)	(75)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	55	47
Amortization of negative VOBA	(2)	(2)
Interest expense on debt	1	0
Other expenses	326	309
Total expenses	988	794
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	50	38
Operating earnings	148	121
Asia [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,947	1,803
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	323	297
Net investment income	653	513
Other revenues	16	12
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	2,939	2,625
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,269	1,198
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	427	380
Capitalization of DAC	(561)	(451)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	355	329
Amortization of negative VOBA	(130)	(146)
Interest expense on debt	1	1
Other expenses	1,122	990
Total expenses	2,483	2,301
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	159	100
Operating earnings	297	224
Europe, the Middle East and Africa [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	744	697
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	119	104
Net investment income	185	173
Other revenues	36	26
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	1,084	1,000
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	434	408
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	35	39
Capitalization of DAC	(203)	(181)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	164	164
Amortization of negative VOBA	(5)	(15)
Interest expense on debt	0	1
Other expenses	540	458
Total expenses	965	874
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	43	47
Operating earnings	76	79
Retail Products [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,136	1,025
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,114	991
Net investment income	1,856	1,808
Other revenues	205	182
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	4,311	4,006
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,902	1,779
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	596	591
Capitalization of DAC	(405)	(421)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	333	338
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0
Other expenses	1,256	1,197
Total expenses	3,682	3,484
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	221	181
Operating earnings	408	341
Group, Voluntary and Worksite Benefits [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	4,073	3,976
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	166	159
Net investment income	491	485
Other revenues	112	101
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	4,842	4,721
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	3,639	3,594
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	42	43
Capitalization of DAC	(102)	(122)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	101	114
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0
Other expenses	716	692
Total expenses	4,396	4,321
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	142	127
Operating earnings	304	273
Corporate Benefit Funding [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	507	423
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	51	54
Net investment income	1,401	1,386
Other revenues	64	60
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	2,023	1,923
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,092	1,020
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	339	335
Capitalization of DAC	(7)	(12)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	10	5
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	2	2
Other expenses	128	126
Total expenses	1,564	1,476
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	161	158
Operating earnings	298	289
Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	9,107	8,532
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,009	1,832
Net investment income	5,085	4,783
Other revenues	489	468
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	16,690	15,615
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	8,939	8,439
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,539	1,479
Capitalization of DAC	(1,362)	(1,262)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,018	997
Amortization of negative VOBA	(137)	(163)
Interest expense on debt	313	323
Other expenses	4,291	3,890
Total expenses	14,601	13,703
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	596	564
Operating earnings	1,493	1,348
Significant Reconciling Items [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	22	22
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	69	57
Net investment income	1,115	530
Other revenues	108	98
Net investment gains (losses)	(110)	(99)
Net derivative gains (losses)	(1,978)	(315)
Total revenues	(774)	293
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	508	170
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,018	445
Capitalization of DAC	(2)	(2)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	(304)	(58)
Amortization of negative VOBA	(18)	(20)
Interest expense on debt	45	92
Other expenses	477	293
Total expenses	1,724	920
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(871)	(203)
Corporate & Other [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	14	14
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	40	38
Net investment income	200	252
Other revenues	51	83
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0
Total revenues	305	387
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	11	16
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	0	0
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0
Interest expense on debt	309	319
Other expenses	203	118
Total expenses	523	453
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(180)	(87)
Operating earnings	$ (38)	$ 21