Investment Risks	Oct. 31, 2024
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2070 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2065 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2060 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2055 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2050 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2045 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2040 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2035 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant as the fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities — Mortgage-related securities, such as mortgage-backed securities, and other asset-backed securities, include debt obligations that represent interests in pools of mortgages or other income-bearing assets, such as consumer loans or receivables. While such securities are subject to the risks associated with investments in debt instruments generally (for example, credit, extension and interest rate risks), they are also subject to other and different risks. Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are subject to changes in the payment patterns of borrowers of the underlying debt, potentially increasing the volatility of the securities and an underlying fund’s net asset value. When interest rates fall, borrowers are more likely to refinance or prepay their debt before its stated maturity. This may result in an underlying fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities, effectively reducing the underlying fund’s income. Conversely, if interest rates rise and borrowers repay their debt more slowly than expected, the time in which the mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are paid off could be extended, reducing an underlying fund’s cash available for reinvestment in higher yielding securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to the risk that underlying borrowers will be unable to meet their obligations and the value of property that secures the mortgages may decline in value and be insufficient, upon foreclosure, to repay the associated loans. Investments in asset-backed securities are subject to similar risks.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in inflation-linked bonds [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in inflation-linked bonds — The values of inflation-linked bonds generally fluctuate in response to changes in real interest rates — i.e., rates of interest after factoring in inflation. A rise in real interest rates may cause the prices of inflation-linked securities to fall, while a decline in real interest rates may cause the prices to increase. Inflation-linked bonds may experience greater losses than other debt securities with similar durations when real interest rates rise faster than nominal interest rates. There can be no assurance that the value of an inflation-linked security will be directly correlated to changes in interest rates; for example, if interest rates rise for reasons other than inflation, the increase may not be reflected in the security’s inflation measure.Investing in inflation-linked bonds may also reduce an underlying fund’s distributable income during periods of deflation. If prices for goods and services decline throughout the economy, the principal and income on inflation-linked securities may decline and result in losses to the underlying fund.
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in derivatives [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the underlying fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the underlying fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The underlying fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the underlying fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the underlying fund’s returns and increase the underlying fund’s price volatility. The underlying fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the underlying fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the underlying fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).
American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2030 Target Date Retirement Fund | Liquidity risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Liquidity risk — Certain underlying fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the underlying fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant asthe fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities — Mortgage-related securities, such as mortgage-backed securities, and other asset-backed securities, include debt obligations that represent interests in pools of mortgages or other income-bearing assets, such as consumer loans or receivables. While such securities are subject to the risks associated with investments in debt instruments generally (for example, credit, extension and interest rate risks), they are also subject to other and different risks. Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are subject to changes in the payment patterns of borrowers of the underlying debt, potentially increasing the volatility of the securities and an underlying fund’s net asset value. When interest rates fall, borrowers are more likely to refinance or prepay their debt before its stated maturity. This may result in an underlying fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities, effectively reducing the underlying fund’s income. Conversely, if interest rates rise and borrowers repay their debt more slowly than expected, the time in which the mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are paid off could be extended, reducing an underlying fund’s cash available for reinvestment in higher yielding securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to the risk that underlying borrowers will be unable to meet their obligations and the value of property that secures the mortgages may decline in value and be insufficient, upon foreclosure, to repay the associated loans. Investments in asset-backed securities are subject to similar risks.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in inflation-linked bonds [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in inflation-linked bonds — The values of inflation-linked bonds generally fluctuate in response to changes in real interest rates — i.e., rates of interest after factoring in inflation. A rise in real interest rates may cause the prices of inflation-linked securities to fall, while a decline in real interest rates may cause the prices to increase. Inflation-linked bonds may experience greater losses than other debt securities with similar durations when real interest rates rise faster than nominal interest rates. There can be no assurance that the value of an inflation-linked security will be directly correlated to changes in interest rates; for example, if interest rates rise for reasons other than inflation, the increase may not be reflected in the security’s inflation measure.Investing in inflation-linked bonds may also reduce an underlying fund’s distributable income during periods of deflation. If prices for goods and services decline throughout the economy, the principal and income on inflation-linked securities may decline and result in losses to the underlying fund.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in derivatives [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the underlying fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the underlying fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The underlying fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the underlying fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the underlying fund’s returns and increase the underlying fund’s price volatility. The underlying fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the underlying fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the underlying fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Liquidity risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Liquidity risk — Certain underlying fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the underlying fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.
American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2025 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in lower rated debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in lower quality, higher yielding debt securities rated Ba1 or below and BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations designated by the fund’s investment adviser or unrated but determined by the investment adviser to be of equivalent quality, which securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.”
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant asthe fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities — Mortgage-related securities, such as mortgage-backed securities, and other asset-backed securities, include debt obligations that represent interests in pools of mortgages or other income-bearing assets, such as consumer loans or receivables. While such securities are subject to the risks associated with investments in debt instruments generally (for example, credit, extension and interest rate risks), they are also subject to other and different risks. Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are subject to changes in the payment patterns of borrowers of the underlying debt, potentially increasing the volatility of the securities and an underlying fund’s net asset value. When interest rates fall, borrowers are more likely to refinance or prepay their debt before its stated maturity. This may result in an underlying fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities, effectively reducing the underlying fund’s income. Conversely, if interest rates rise and borrowers repay their debt more slowly than expected, the time in which the mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are paid off could be extended, reducing an underlying fund’s cash available for reinvestment in higher yielding securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to the risk that underlying borrowers will be unable to meet their obligations and the value of property that secures the mortgages may decline in value and be insufficient, upon foreclosure, to repay the associated loans. Investments in asset-backed securities are subject to similar risks.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in inflation-linked bonds [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in inflation-linked bonds — The values of inflation-linked bonds generally fluctuate in response to changes in real interest rates — i.e., rates of interest after factoring in inflation. A rise in real interest rates may cause the prices of inflation-linked securities to fall, while a decline in real interest rates may cause the prices to increase. Inflation-linked bonds may experience greater losses than other debt securities with similar durations when real interest rates rise faster than nominal interest rates. There can be no assurance that the value of an inflation-linked security will be directly correlated to changes in interest rates; for example, if interest rates rise for reasons other than inflation, the increase may not be reflected in the security’s inflation measure.Investing in inflation-linked bonds may also reduce an underlying fund’s distributable income during periods of deflation. If prices for goods and services decline throughout the economy, the principal and income on inflation-linked securities may decline and result in losses to the underlying fund.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in derivatives [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the underlying fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the underlying fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The underlying fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the underlying fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the underlying fund’s returns and increase the underlying fund’s price volatility. The underlying fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the underlying fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the underlying fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Liquidity risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Liquidity risk — Certain underlying fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the underlying fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.
American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2020 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in lower rated debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in lower quality, higher yielding debt securities rated Ba1 or below and BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations designated by the fund’s investment adviser or unrated but determined by the investment adviser to be of equivalent quality, which securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.”
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant asthe fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities — Mortgage-related securities, such as mortgage-backed securities, and other asset-backed securities, include debt obligations that represent interests in pools of mortgages or other income-bearing assets, such as consumer loans or receivables. While such securities are subject to the risks associated with investments in debt instruments generally (for example, credit, extension and interest rate risks), they are also subject to other and different risks. Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are subject to changes in the payment patterns of borrowers of the underlying debt, potentially increasing the volatility of the securities and an underlying fund’s net asset value. When interest rates fall, borrowers are more likely to refinance or prepay their debt before its stated maturity. This may result in an underlying fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities, effectively reducing the underlying fund’s income. Conversely, if interest rates rise and borrowers repay their debt more slowly than expected, the time in which the mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are paid off could be extended, reducing an underlying fund’s cash available for reinvestment in higher yielding securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to the risk that underlying borrowers will be unable to meet their obligations and the value of property that secures the mortgages may decline in value and be insufficient, upon foreclosure, to repay the associated loans. Investments in asset-backed securities are subject to similar risks.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in inflation-linked bonds [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in inflation-linked bonds — The values of inflation-linked bonds generally fluctuate in response to changes in real interest rates — i.e., rates of interest after factoring in inflation. A rise in real interest rates may cause the prices of inflation-linked securities to fall, while a decline in real interest rates may cause the prices to increase. Inflation-linked bonds may experience greater losses than other debt securities with similar durations when real interest rates rise faster than nominal interest rates. There can be no assurance that the value of an inflation-linked security will be directly correlated to changes in interest rates; for example, if interest rates rise for reasons other than inflation, the increase may not be reflected in the security’s inflation measure.Investing in inflation-linked bonds may also reduce an underlying fund’s distributable income during periods of deflation. If prices for goods and services decline throughout the economy, the principal and income on inflation-linked securities may decline and result in losses to the underlying fund.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in derivatives [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the underlying fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the underlying fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The underlying fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the underlying fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the underlying fund’s returns and increase the underlying fund’s price volatility. The underlying fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the underlying fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the underlying fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Liquidity risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Liquidity risk — Certain underlying fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the underlying fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.
American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2015 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in lower rated debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in lower quality, higher yielding debt securities rated Ba1 or below and BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations designated by the fund’s investment adviser or unrated but determined by the investment adviser to be of equivalent quality, which securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.”
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Lose Money [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	You may lose money by investing in the fund.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Risk Not Insured [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Allocation risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Allocation risk — Investments in the fund are subject to risks related to the investment adviser’s allocation choices. The selection of the underlying funds and the allocation of the fund’s assets could cause the fund to lose value or its results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives. For investors who are close to or in retirement, the fund’s equity exposure may result in investment volatility that could reduce an investor’s available retirement assets at a time when the investor has a need to withdraw funds. For investors who are farther from retirement, there is a risk the fund may invest too much in investments designed to ensure capital conservation and current income, which may prevent the investor from meeting his or her retirement goals.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Fund structure [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Fund structure — The fund invests in underlying funds and incurs expenses related to the underlying funds. In addition, investors in the fund will incur fees to pay for certain expenses related to the operations of the fund. An investor holding the underlying funds directly and in the same proportions as the fund would incur lower overall expenses but would not receive the benefit of the portfolio management and other services provided by the fund. Additionally, in accordance with an exemption under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, the investment adviser considers only proprietary funds when selecting underlying investment options and allocations. This means that the fund’s investment adviser does not, nor does it expect to, consider any unaffiliated funds as underlying investment options for the fund. This strategy could raise certain conflicts of interest when determining the overall asset allocation of the fund or choosing underlying investments for the fund, including the selection of funds that result in greater compensation to the adviser or funds with relatively lower historical investment results. The investment adviser has policies and procedures designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with its management of the fund.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Underlying fund risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Underlying fund risks — Because the fund’s investments consist of underlying funds, the fund’s risks are directly related to the risks of the underlying funds. For this reason, it is important to understand the risks associated with investing in the underlying funds, as described below.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Market conditions [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the common stocks, bonds and other securities held by the underlying funds may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries or companies; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental, governmental agency or central bank responses to economic conditions; levels of public debt and deficits; changes in inflation rates; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.Economies and financial markets throughout the world are highly interconnected. Economic, financial or political events, trading and tariff arrangements, wars, terrorism, cybersecurity events, natural disasters, public health emergencies (such as the spread of infectious disease), bank failures and other circumstances in one country or region, including actions taken by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities in response to any of the foregoing, could have impacts on global economies or markets. As a result, whether or not the underlying funds invest in securities of issuers located in or with significant exposure to the countries affected, the value and liquidity of the underlying funds’ investments may be negatively affected by developments in other countries and regions.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Issuer risks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the underlying funds may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance, major litigation, investigations or other controversies related to the issuer, changes in the issuer’s financial condition or credit rating, changes in government regulations affecting the issuer or its competitive environment and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives. An individual security may also be affected by factors relating to the industry or sector of the issuer or the securities markets as a whole, and conversely an industry or sector or the securities markets may be affected by a change in financial condition or other event affecting a single issuer.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in stocks [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in stocks — Investing in stocks may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. As a result, the value of the underlying funds may be subject to sharp declines in value. Income provided by an underlying fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the underlying fund invests. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks. As the fund nears its target date, a decreasing proportion of the fund’s assets will be invested in underlying funds that invest primarily in stocks. Accordingly, these risks are expected to be more significant the further the fund is removed from its target date and are expected to lessen as the fund approaches its target date.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing outside the United States [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, and securities tied economically to countries outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers are domiciled, operate or generate revenue or to which the securities are tied economically. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as nationalization, currency blockage or the imposition of price controls, sanctions, or punitive taxes, each of which could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different regulatory, legal, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by an underlying fund, which could impact the liquidity of the fund’s portfolio. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in debt instruments — The prices of, and the income generated by, bonds and other debt securities held by an underlying fund may be affected by factors such as the interest rates, maturities and credit quality of these securities.Rising interest rates will generally cause the prices of bonds and other debt securities to fall. Also, when interest rates rise, issuers of debt securities that may be prepaid at any time, such as mortgage- or other asset-backed securities, are less likely to refinance existing debt securities, causing the average life of such securities to extend. A general change in interest rates may cause investors to sell debt securities on a large scale, which could also adversely affect the price and liquidity of debt securities and could also result in increased redemptions from the fund. Falling interest rates may cause an issuer to redeem, call or refinance a debt security before its stated maturity, which may result in the fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities.Bonds and other debt securities are also subject to credit risk, which is the possibility that the credit strength of an issuer or guarantor will weaken or be perceived to be weaker, and/or an issuer of a debt security will fail to make timely payments of principal or interest and the security will go into default. Changes in actual or perceived creditworthiness may occur quickly. A downgrade or default affecting any of the underlying funds’ securities could cause the value of the underlying funds’ shares to decrease. Lower quality debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than higher quality debt securities. Credit risk is gauged, in part, by the credit ratings of the debt securities in which the underlying fund invests. However, ratings are only the opinions of the rating agencies issuing them and are not guarantees as to credit quality or an evaluation of market risk. The underlying funds’ investment adviser relies on its own credit analysts to research issuers and issues in assessing credit and default risks. These risks will be more significant asthe fund approaches and passes its target date because a greater proportion of the fund’s assets will consist of underlying funds that primarily invest in bonds.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in securities backed by the U.S. government — U.S. government securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities backed by the U.S. Treasury or the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed only as to the timely payment of interest and principal when held to maturity. Accordingly, the current market values for these securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates and the credit rating of the U.S. government. Notwithstanding that these securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstances could arise that would prevent or delay the payment of interest or principal on these securities, which could adversely affect their value and cause the fund to suffer losses. Such an event could lead to significant disruptions in U.S. and global markets. Securities issued by U.S. government-sponsored entities and federal agencies and instrumentalities that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government are neither issued nor guaranteed by the U.S. government.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Interest Rate Risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Interest rate risk — The values and liquidity of the securities held by the underlying fund may be affected by changing interest rates. For example, the values of these securities may decline when interest rates rise and increase when interest rates fall. Longer maturity debt securities generally have greater sensitivity to changes in interest rates and may be subject to greater price fluctuations than shorter maturity debt securities. The underlying fund may invest in variable and floating rate securities. When the underlying fund holds variable or floating rate securities, a decrease in market interest rates will adversely affect the income received from such securities and the net asset value of the fund’s shares. Although the values of such securities are generally less sensitive to interest rate changes than those of other debt securities, the value of variable and floating rate securities may decline if their interest rates do not rise as quickly, or as much, as market interest rates. Conversely, floating rate securities will not generally increase in value if interest rates decline. During periods of extremely low short-term interest rates, the underlying fund may not be able to maintain a positive yield or total return and, in relatively low interest rate environments, there are heightened risks associated with rising interest rates.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Management [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Management — The investment adviser to the fund and to the underlying funds actively manages each underlying fund’s investments. Consequently, the underlying funds are subject to the risk that the methods and analyses, including models, tools and data, employed by the investment adviser in this process may be flawed or incorrect and may not produce the desired results. This could cause an underlying fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities — Mortgage-related securities, such as mortgage-backed securities, and other asset-backed securities, include debt obligations that represent interests in pools of mortgages or other income-bearing assets, such as consumer loans or receivables. While such securities are subject to the risks associated with investments in debt instruments generally (for example, credit, extension and interest rate risks), they are also subject to other and different risks. Mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are subject to changes in the payment patterns of borrowers of the underlying debt, potentially increasing the volatility of the securities and an underlying fund’s net asset value. When interest rates fall, borrowers are more likely to refinance or prepay their debt before its stated maturity. This may result in an underlying fund having to reinvest the proceeds in lower yielding securities, effectively reducing the underlying fund’s income. Conversely, if interest rates rise and borrowers repay their debt more slowly than expected, the time in which the mortgage-backed and other asset-backed securities are paid off could be extended, reducing an underlying fund’s cash available for reinvestment in higher yielding securities. Mortgage-backed securities are also subject to the risk that underlying borrowers will be unable to meet their obligations and the value of property that secures the mortgages may decline in value and be insufficient, upon foreclosure, to repay the associated loans. Investments in asset-backed securities are subject to similar risks.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in inflation-linked bonds [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in inflation-linked bonds — The values of inflation-linked bonds generally fluctuate in response to changes in real interest rates — i.e., rates of interest after factoring in inflation. A rise in real interest rates may cause the prices of inflation-linked securities to fall, while a decline in real interest rates may cause the prices to increase. Inflation-linked bonds may experience greater losses than other debt securities with similar durations when real interest rates rise faster than nominal interest rates. There can be no assurance that the value of an inflation-linked security will be directly correlated to changes in interest rates; for example, if interest rates rise for reasons other than inflation, the increase may not be reflected in the security’s inflation measure.Investing in inflation-linked bonds may also reduce an underlying fund’s distributable income during periods of deflation. If prices for goods and services decline throughout the economy, the principal and income on inflation-linked securities may decline and result in losses to the underlying fund.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in derivatives [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in derivatives — The use of derivatives involves a variety of risks, which may be different from, or greater than, the risks associated with investing in traditional securities, such as stocks and bonds. Changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate perfectly with, and may be more sensitive to market events than, the underlying asset, rate or index, and a derivative instrument may cause the underlying fund to lose significantly more than its initial investment. Derivatives may be difficult to value, difficult for the underlying fund to buy or sell at an opportune time or price and difficult, or even impossible, to terminate or otherwise offset. The underlying fund’s use of derivatives may result in losses to the underlying fund, and investing in derivatives may reduce the underlying fund’s returns and increase the underlying fund’s price volatility. The underlying fund’s counterparty to a derivative transaction (including, if applicable, the underlying fund’s clearing broker, the derivatives exchange or the clearinghouse) may be unable or unwilling to honor its financial obligations in respect of the transaction. In certain cases, the underlying fund may be hindered or delayed in exercising remedies against or closing out derivative instruments with a counterparty, which may result in additional losses. Derivatives are also subject to operational risk (such as documentation issues, settlement issues and systems failures) and legal risk (such as insufficient documentation, insufficient capacity or authority of a counterparty, and issues with the legality or enforceability of a contract).
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Liquidity risk [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Liquidity risk — Certain underlying fund holdings may be or may become difficult or impossible to sell, particularly during times of market turmoil. Liquidity may be impacted by the lack of an active market for a holding, legal or contractual restrictions on resale, or the reduced number and capacity of market participants to make a market in such holding. Market prices for less liquid or illiquid holdings may be volatile or difficult to determine, and reduced liquidity may have an adverse impact on the market price of such holdings. Additionally, the sale of less liquid or illiquid holdings may involve substantial delays (including delays in settlement) and additional costs and the underlying fund may be unable to sell such holdings when necessary to meet its liquidity needs or to try to limit losses, or may be forced to sell at a loss.
American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | American Funds 2010 Target Date Retirement Fund | Investing in lower rated debt instruments [Member]
Prospectus [Line Items]
Risk [Text Block]	Investing in lower rated debt instruments — Lower rated bonds and other lower rated debt securities generally have higher rates of interest and involve greater risk of default or price declines due to changes in the issuer’s creditworthiness than those of higher quality debt securities. The market prices of these securities may fluctuate more than the prices of higher quality debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. These risks may be increased with respect to investments in lower quality, higher yielding debt securities rated Ba1 or below and BB+ or below by Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations designated by the fund’s investment adviser or unrated but determined by the investment adviser to be of equivalent quality, which securities are sometimes referred to as “junk bonds.”