Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Revenues
Premiums	$ 9,096	$ 9,342	$ 27,386	$ 27,190
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,131	1,998	6,306	5,856
Net investment income	5,517	4,252	16,436	14,658
Other revenues	455	720	1,445	1,878
Net investment gains (losses)	22	(55)	(152)	(309)
Net derivative gains (losses)	(718)	4,196	(604)	4,233
Total revenues	16,503	20,453	50,817	53,506
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	9,298	9,402	28,008	27,506
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	2,102	738	5,681	4,104
Goodwill impairment	1,868	0	1,868	0
Capitalization of DAC	(1,302)	(1,527)	(3,981)	(4,158)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,008	1,718	3,201	3,911
Amortization of negative VOBA	(170)	(170)	(506)	(536)
Interest expense on debt	326	425	1,026	1,260
Other expenses	4,383	4,752	13,601	13,510
Total expenses	17,513	15,338	48,898	45,597
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(53)	1,673	710	2,481
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	(957)	3,442	1,209	5,428
Retail [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment			1,692
Corporate & Other [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment			176
Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	9,080	9,319	27,326	27,121
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	2,048	1,906	6,056	5,646
Net investment income	5,048	4,961	15,297	14,746
Other revenues	435	418	1,313	1,232
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	16,611	16,604	49,992	48,745
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	8,995	9,604	27,066	27,315
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,589	1,534	4,653	4,521
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(1,301)	(1,524)	(3,976)	(4,151)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1,051	1,162	3,231	3,295
Amortization of negative VOBA	(155)	(150)	(456)	(476)
Interest expense on debt	286	327	898	978
Other expenses	4,120	4,332	12,414	12,363
Total expenses	14,585	15,285	43,830	43,845
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	579	324	1,758	1,376
Operating earnings	1,447	995	4,404	3,524
Operating Segments [Member] | The Americas [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	6,417	6,708	19,253	19,410
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,540	1,443	4,604	4,275
Net investment income	4,100	3,954	12,194	11,811
Other revenues	388	370	1,171	1,066
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	12,445	12,475	37,222	36,562
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	7,254	7,877	21,781	22,275
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	1,078	1,085	3,216	3,210
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(564)	(791)	(1,720)	(2,126)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	524	613	1,586	1,671
Amortization of negative VOBA	(1)	0	(4)	(4)
Interest expense on debt	(1)	2	4	8
Other expenses	2,328	2,543	7,122	7,344
Total expenses	10,618	11,329	31,985	32,378
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	597	366	1,721	1,365
Operating earnings	1,230	780	3,516	2,819
Operating Segments [Member] | Latin America [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	610	672	1,948	1,913
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	189	188	581	571
Net investment income	299	289	881	727
Other revenues	3	8	11	14
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	1,101	1,157	3,421	3,225
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	507	576	1,667	1,534
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	99	95	289	280
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(83)	(78)	(238)	(231)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	42	45	151	154
Amortization of negative VOBA	(1)	0	(4)	(4)
Interest expense on debt	(4)	0	(3)	1
Other expenses	353	333	1,002	981
Total expenses	913	971	2,864	2,715
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	36	45	122	119
Operating earnings	152	141	435	391
Operating Segments [Member] | Asia [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	2,112	1,967	6,215	5,774
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	388	357	1,102	1,020
Net investment income	709	643	2,150	1,799
Other revenues	4	8	17	28
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	3,213	2,975	9,484	8,621
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,455	1,325	4,250	3,931
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	468	414	1,323	1,193
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(579)	(576)	(1,721)	(1,530)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	396	407	1,188	1,163
Amortization of negative VOBA	(128)	(137)	(387)	(426)
Interest expense on debt	0	0	5	0
Other expenses	1,206	1,213	3,550	3,371
Total expenses	2,818	2,646	8,208	7,702
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	136	107	437	298
Operating earnings	259	222	839	621
Operating Segments [Member] | Europe, the Middle East and Africa [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	536	630	1,815	1,896
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	82	67	233	236
Net investment income	122	151	406	455
Other revenues	35	29	98	84
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	775	877	2,552	2,671
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	255	341	941	1,008
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	32	35	91	118
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(158)	(157)	(535)	(495)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	130	142	456	461
Amortization of negative VOBA	(26)	(13)	(65)	(46)
Interest expense on debt	2	0	3	1
Other expenses	440	423	1,333	1,290
Total expenses	675	771	2,224	2,337
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	38	41	116	130
Operating earnings	62	65	212	204
Operating Segments [Member] | Retail [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	1,604	1,770	4,804	4,907
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	1,132	1,027	3,365	3,050
Net investment income	1,930	1,842	5,735	5,585
Other revenues	221	204	647	583
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	4,887	4,843	14,551	14,125
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	2,228	2,523	6,668	7,013
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	598	617	1,784	1,803
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(430)	(660)	(1,352)	(1,728)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	438	521	1,319	1,363
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	0	0	0	0
Other expenses	1,308	1,527	4,060	4,340
Total expenses	4,142	4,528	12,479	12,791
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	253	101	703	443
Operating earnings	492	214	1,369	891
Operating Segments [Member] | Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	3,753	3,431	11,021	10,458
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	166	159	497	473
Net investment income	450	448	1,325	1,330
Other revenues	100	97	320	287
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	4,469	4,135	13,163	12,548
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	3,449	3,319	10,153	9,803
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	42	46	127	134
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(38)	(47)	(102)	(144)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	40	43	98	140
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	1	0	1	0
Other expenses	547	547	1,692	1,639
Total expenses	4,041	3,908	11,969	11,572
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	145	74	401	325
Operating earnings	283	153	793	651
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate Benefit Funding [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	450	835	1,480	2,132
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	53	69	161	181
Net investment income	1,421	1,375	4,253	4,169
Other revenues	64	61	193	182
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	1,988	2,340	6,087	6,664
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	1,070	1,459	3,293	3,925
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	339	327	1,016	993
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	(13)	(6)	(28)	(23)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	4	4	18	14
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	2	2	6	7
Other expenses	120	136	368	384
Total expenses	1,522	1,922	4,673	5,300
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	163	146	495	478
Operating earnings	303	272	919	886
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate & Other [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	15	14	43	41
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	38	39	117	115
Net investment income	117	213	547	681
Other revenues	8	11	27	54
Net investment gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	178	277	734	891
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	31	61	94	101
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	11	0	23	0
Goodwill impairment	0	0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC	0	0	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	1	0	1	0
Amortization of negative VOBA	0	0	0	0
Interest expense on debt	285	325	886	969
Other expenses	146	153	409	358
Total expenses	474	539	1,413	1,428
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	(192)	(190)	(516)	(417)
Operating earnings	(104)	(72)	(163)	(120)
Significant Reconciling Items [Member]
Revenues
Premiums	16	23	60	69
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees	83	92	250	210
Net investment income	469	(709)	1,139	(88)
Other revenues	20	302	132	646
Net investment gains (losses)	22	(55)	(152)	(309)
Net derivative gains (losses)	(718)	4,196	(604)	4,233
Total revenues	(108)	3,849	825	4,761
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends	303	(202)	942	191
Interest credited to policyholder account balances	513	(796)	1,028	(417)
Goodwill impairment	1,868	0	1,868	0
Capitalization of DAC	(1)	(3)	(5)	(7)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA	(43)	556	(30)	616
Amortization of negative VOBA	(15)	(20)	(50)	(60)
Interest expense on debt	40	98	128	282
Other expenses	263	420	1,187	1,147
Total expenses	2,928	53	5,068	1,752
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)	$ (632)	$ 1,349	$ (1,048)	$ 1,105