Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Revenues
Premiums									$ 37,975	$ 36,361	$ 27,071
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									8,556	7,806	6,028
Net investment income									21,984	19,585	17,493
Other revenues									1,906	2,532	2,328
Net investment gains (losses)									(352)	(867)	(408)
Net derivative gains (losses)									(1,919)	4,824	(265)
Total revenues	17,333	16,503	18,398	15,916	16,735	20,453	17,146	15,907	68,150	70,241	52,247
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									39,356	36,917	30,672
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									7,729	5,603	4,919
Goodwill impairment									1,868	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(5,289)	(5,558)	(2,770)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									4,199	4,898	2,477
Amortization of negative VOBA									(622)	(697)	(64)
Interest expense on debt									1,356	1,629	1,550
Other expenses									18,111	18,265	11,734
Total expenses	17,810	17,513	15,060	16,325	15,460	15,338	15,636	14,623	66,708	61,057	48,518
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									128	2,793	1,110
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of income tax	105	(957)	2,300	(134)	963	3,442	1,062	924	1,314	6,391	2,619
Latin America [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment									0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									228	211	144
Asia [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment									0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,567	1,505	290
Europe, the Middle East and Africa [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment									0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									644	613	87
Retail [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment									1,692	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,603	2,365	1,758
Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment									0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									133	186	181
Corporate Benefit Funding [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment									0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									22	17	16
Corporate & Other [Member]
Expenses
Goodwill impairment									176	65
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									2	1	1
Operating Segments [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									37,911	36,269	27,071
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									8,212	7,528	5,817
Net investment income									20,472	19,638	16,855
Other revenues									1,756	1,652	1,393
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									68,351	65,087	51,136
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									37,770	36,241	29,974
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									6,242	6,057	4,697
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(5,284)	(5,549)	(2,770)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									4,177	4,355	2,443
Amortization of negative VOBA									(555)	(619)	(57)
Interest expense on debt									1,190	1,304	1,137
Other expenses									16,680	16,620	10,602
Total expenses									60,220	58,409	46,026
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									2,323	1,879	1,414
Operating earnings									5,808	4,799	3,696
Operating Segments [Member] | The Americas [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									27,141	26,022	24,905
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									6,233	5,715	5,127
Net investment income									16,339	15,713	15,553
Other revenues									1,576	1,433	1,261
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									51,289	48,883	46,846
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									30,636	29,586	28,453
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									4,293	4,284	4,390
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(2,273)	(2,835)	(2,195)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,986	2,255	2,065
Amortization of negative VOBA									(5)	(6)	(1)
Interest expense on debt									8	11	11
Other expenses									9,573	9,870	8,647
Total expenses									44,218	43,165	41,370
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									2,302	1,866	1,770
Operating earnings									4,769	3,852	3,706
Operating Segments [Member] | Latin America [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									2,578	2,514	1,969
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									785	757	630
Net investment income									1,198	1,025	927
Other revenues									16	15	12
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									4,577	4,311	3,538
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									2,231	2,064	1,829
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									393	371	370
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(353)	(295)	(221)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									224	207	144
Amortization of negative VOBA									(5)	(6)	(1)
Interest expense on debt									(1)	1	1
Other expenses									1,375	1,305	901
Total expenses									3,864	3,647	3,023
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									130	150	92
Operating earnings									583	514	423
Operating Segments [Member] | Asia [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									8,344	7,716	1,716
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									1,491	1,343	502
Net investment income									2,895	2,475	497
Other revenues									26	36	14
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									12,756	11,570	2,729
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									5,819	5,239	1,351
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									1,784	1,607	183
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(2,288)	(2,045)	(459)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,563	1,486	290
Amortization of negative VOBA									(456)	(560)	(49)
Interest expense on debt									5	0	1
Other expenses									4,738	4,522	1,142
Total expenses									11,165	10,249	2,459
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									554	441	46
Operating earnings									1,037	880	224
Operating Segments [Member] | Europe, the Middle East and Africa [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									2,370	2,477	439
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									333	315	50
Net investment income									535	562	155
Other revenues									121	123	9
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									3,359	3,477	653
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									1,196	1,290	137
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									126	166	124
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(723)	(669)	(116)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									626	613	87
Amortization of negative VOBA									(94)	(53)	(7)
Interest expense on debt									1	0	1
Other expenses									1,810	1,723	434
Total expenses									2,942	3,070	660
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									146	156	0
Operating earnings									271	251	(7)
Operating Segments [Member] | Retail [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									6,532	6,711	6,491
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									4,561	4,096	3,655
Net investment income									7,670	7,414	7,644
Other revenues									879	779	633
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									19,642	19,000	18,423
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									9,010	9,220	8,835
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									2,375	2,412	2,381
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(1,753)	(2,339)	(1,769)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									1,607	1,845	1,724
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									0	1	2
Other expenses									5,369	5,854	5,059
Total expenses									16,608	16,993	16,232
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									1,032	672	735
Operating earnings									2,002	1,335	1,456
Operating Segments [Member] | Group, Voluntary & Worksite Benefits [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									14,794	13,949	14,100
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									662	630	616
Net investment income									1,768	1,768	1,702
Other revenues									422	390	369
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									17,646	16,737	16,787
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									13,691	13,015	13,112
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									167	178	192
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(138)	(176)	(187)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									133	186	181
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									1	0	0
Other expenses									2,351	2,198	2,193
Total expenses									16,205	15,401	15,491
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									481	445	427
Operating earnings									960	891	869
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate Benefit Funding [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									3,237	2,848	2,345
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									225	232	226
Net investment income									5,703	5,506	5,280
Other revenues									259	249	247
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									9,424	8,835	8,098
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									5,704	5,287	4,677
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									1,358	1,323	1,447
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(29)	(25)	(18)
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									22	17	16
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									8	9	8
Other expenses									478	513	494
Total expenses									7,541	7,124	6,624
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									659	599	516
Operating earnings									1,224	1,112	958
Operating Segments [Member] | Corporate & Other [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									56	54	11
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									155	155	138
Net investment income									703	888	650
Other revenues									33	60	109
Net investment gains (losses)									0	0	0
Net derivative gains (losses)									0	0	0
Total revenues									947	1,157	908
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									119	126	33
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									39	0	0
Goodwill impairment									0	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									0	0	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									2	1	1
Amortization of negative VOBA									0	0	0
Interest expense on debt									1,176	1,293	1,124
Other expenses									559	505	379
Total expenses									1,895	1,925	1,537
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									(679)	(584)	(402)
Operating earnings									(269)	(184)	(227)
Significant Reconciling Items [Member]
Revenues
Premiums									64	92	0
Universal life and investment-type product policy fees									344	278	211
Net investment income									1,512	(53)	638
Other revenues									150	880	935
Net investment gains (losses)									(352)	(867)	(408)
Net derivative gains (losses)									(1,919)	4,824	(265)
Total revenues									(201)	5,154	1,111
Expenses
Policyholder benefits and claims and policyholder dividends									1,586	676	698
Interest credited to policyholder account balances									1,487	(454)	222
Goodwill impairment									1,868	0	0
Capitalization of DAC									(5)	(9)	0
Amortization of DAC and VOBA									22	543	34
Amortization of negative VOBA									(67)	(78)	(7)
Interest expense on debt									166	325	413
Other expenses									1,431	1,645	1,132
Total expenses									6,488	2,648	2,492
Provision for income tax expense (benefit)									$ (2,195)	$ 914	$ (304)