FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS (Details 2) (USD $)	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Determination of fair values
Number of primary sources of information used for determining fair value	1
Total number of primary sources of information available for determining fair value	3
Minimum percentage of the Company's fixed maturity securities priced by third party pricing services	90.00%
Number of independent non-binding broker quotes obtained per security	1
Percentage of derivatives excluding embedded derivatives that were priced using exchange prices or independent broker quotations	96.10%
Fair value	$ 266,730,000	$ 113,364,000
Liabilities:
Fair value	434,232,000	657,874,000
Annuity account balances
Annuity account balances
Discount rate curve, base rate	LIBOR
Equity indexed annuities, discount rate for one month (as a percent)	0.36%
Equity indexed annuities, discount rate for five years (as a percent)	2.44%
Equity indexed annuities, discount rate for thirty years (as a percent)	4.97%
Level 3
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments that are valued using broker quotes	171,600,000	71,100,000
Financial instruments with book value approximating fair value	73,200,000	73,200,000
Level 3 | Annuity account balances
Liabilities:
Annuity account balances	110,590,000	129,468,000
Level 3 | Annuity account balances | Actuarial cash flow model
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)		57.00%
Asset earned rate (as a percent)	5.37%	5.81%
Withdrawal rate (as a percent)	2.20%	2.20%
Level 3 | Annuity account balances | Actuarial cash flow model | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	2.20%	2.20%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.19%	0.09%
Expenses per Policy	88	88
Return on assets (as a percent)	1.50%	1.50%
Level 3 | Annuity account balances | Actuarial cash flow model | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	33.00%	45.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	1.31%	1.34%
Expenses per Policy	102	108
Return on assets (as a percent)	1.85%	1.85%
Asset-Backed Securities | Level 2
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	3,300,000,000
Asset-Backed Securities | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	719,800,000
Other asset-backed securities
Determination of fair values
Percentage of underlying collateral of student-loan backed auction rate securities guaranteed by the Federal Family Education Loan Program ("FFELP"), minimum	97.00%	97.00%
Other asset-backed securities | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	548,711,000	596,143,000
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments that are valued using broker quotes	171,000,000	70,500,000
Other asset-backed securities | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Minimum
Unobservable input
Liquidity premium (as a percent)	0.69%	0.72%
Paydown rate (as a percent)	8.37%	8.51%
Other asset-backed securities | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Maximum
Unobservable input
Liquidity premium (as a percent)	1.32%	1.68%
Paydown rate (as a percent)	17.50%	18.10%
Other asset-backed securities | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Weighted average
Unobservable input
Liquidity premium (as a percent)	0.80%	1.29%
Paydown rate (as a percent)	12.45%	11.40%
Other asset-backed securities | Level 3 | Available-for-sale securities
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	548,800,000
Percentage of underlying collateral of student-loan backed auction rate securities guaranteed by the Federal Family Education Loan Program ("FFELP"), minimum	97.00%
Other asset-backed securities | Level 3 | Trading securities
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	171,000,000
Corporate bonds, U.S. Government-related securities, and Other government related securities | Level 2
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	22,900,000,000
Corporate bonds, U.S. Government-related securities, and Other government related securities | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	196,900,000
Embedded derivative - GMWB
Liabilities:
Fair value	2,600,000,000
Annuity account balances
Discount rate curve, base rate	LIBOR
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Trading securities
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	2,900,000,000
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Fair value	95,058,000
Liabilities:
Fair value		169,041,000
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)		57.00%
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	0.00%	0.00%
Utilization (as a percent)	97.00%	93.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.19%	0.09%
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	24.00%	24.00%
Utilization (as a percent)	103.00%	100.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	1.31%	1.34%
Equity securities | Level 3
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments that are valued using broker quotes	600,000	600,000
Financial instruments with book value approximating fair value	68,800,000	68,900,000
Equity securities | Level 2 and Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	112,800,000
Federal Home Loan Bank Stock	64,600,000
Corporate bonds | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	192,580,000	168,007,000
Corporate bonds | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Minimum
Unobservable input
Spread over treasury (as a percent)	0.32%	0.92%
Corporate bonds | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Maximum
Unobservable input
Spread over treasury (as a percent)	6.75%	7.75%
Corporate bonds | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Weighted average
Unobservable input
Spread over treasury (as a percent)	2.89%	3.34%
Other government-related securities | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount		20,011,000
Other government-related securities | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Weighted average
Unobservable input
Spread over treasury (as a percent)		0.30%
Fixed maturity securities | Level 3
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments with book value approximating fair value	4,400,000	4,300,000
Embedded derivative - FIA | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%
Embedded derivative - FIA | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%
Embedded derivative - FIA | Level 3
Liabilities:
Fair value	9,199,000
Embedded derivative - FIA | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	2.50%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.19%
Expenses per Policy	83
Withdrawal rate (as a percent)	1.10%
Embedded derivative - FIA | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	40.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	1.31%
Expenses per Policy	$ 97
Withdrawal rate (as a percent)	4.50%