FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS (Details 2) (USD $)	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
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
Fair value	$ 276,694,000	$ 307,567,000
Percentage of derivatives excluding embedded derivatives that were priced using exchange prices or independent broker quotations	98.20%
Liabilities:
Fair value	619,411,000	457,802,000
Annuity account balances
Annuity account balances
Discount rate curve, base rate	LIBOR
Equity indexed annuities, discount rate for one month (as a percent)	0.29%
Equity indexed annuities, discount rate for five years (as a percent)	2.58%
Equity indexed annuities, discount rate for thirty years (as a percent)	4.21%
Level 3
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments that are valued using broker quotes	248,400,000	216,600,000
Financial instruments with book value approximating fair value	87,700,000	77,200,000
Level 3 | Annuity account balances
Liabilities:
Annuity account balances	98,129,000	107,000,000
Level 3 | Annuity account balances | Actuarial cash flow model
Unobservable input
Asset earned rate (as a percent)		5.37%
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%	49.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	2.20%	2.20%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.13%	0.15%
Asset earned rate (as a percent)	3.86%
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%	80.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	33.00%	33.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	1.02%	1.06%
Asset earned rate (as a percent)	5.92%
Expenses per Policy	102	102
Return on assets (as a percent)	1.85%	1.85%
Asset-Backed Securities | Level 2
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	3,400,000,000
Asset-Backed Securities | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	736,100,000
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	564,877,000	545,808,000
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments that are valued using broker quotes	171,200,000	195,000,000
Other Asset-Backed Securities | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Minimum
Unobservable input
Liquidity premium (as a percent)	0.59%	1.00%
Paydown rate (as a percent)	9.29%	8.57%
Other Asset-Backed Securities | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Maximum
Unobservable input
Liquidity premium (as a percent)	1.49%	1.68%
Paydown rate (as a percent)	15.18%	16.87%
Other Asset-Backed Securities | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Weighted average
Unobservable input
Liquidity premium (as a percent)	0.82%	1.08%
Paydown rate (as a percent)	12.42%	12.05%
Other Asset-Backed Securities | Level 3 | Available-for-sale securities
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	565,400,000
Other Asset-Backed Securities | Level 3 | Trading securities
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	170,700,000
Corporate Bonds, U.S. Government-Related Securities, and other Government Related Securities | Level 2
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	29,800,000,000
Corporate Bonds, U.S. Government-Related Securities, and other Government Related Securities | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	1,400,000,000
Embedded derivative - GMWB
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 | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Fair value		156,287,000
Liabilities:
Fair value	24,854,000
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%	49.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	0.00%	0.00%
Utilization (as a percent)	97.00%	97.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.13%	0.15%
Embedded derivative - GMWB | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%	80.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	24.00%	24.00%
Utilization (as a percent)	103.00%	103.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	1.02%	1.06%
Equity securities | Level 3
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments that are valued using broker quotes	3,000,000	600,000
Financial instruments with book value approximating fair value	70,000,000	71,300,000
Equity securities | Level 2 and Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	171,900,000
Federal Home Loan Bank Stock	66,000,000
Corporate Bonds | Level 3
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	1,312,780,000	1,555,898,000
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments that are valued using broker quotes	74,200,000	21,000,000
Financial instruments with book value approximating fair value	14,000,000	2,200,000
Corporate Bonds | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Minimum
Unobservable input
Spread over treasury (as a percent)	0.51%	0.11%
Corporate Bonds | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Maximum
Unobservable input
Spread over treasury (as a percent)	5.75%	6.75%
Corporate Bonds | Level 3 | Discounted cash flow | Weighted average
Unobservable input
Spread over treasury (as a percent)	1.86%	2.06%
Fixed maturity securities | Level 3
Annuity account balances
Financial instruments with book value approximating fair value	3,700,000	3,700,000
Embedded derivative - FIA
Annuity account balances
Discount rate curve, base rate	LIBOR
Embedded derivative - FIA | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%
Embedded derivative - FIA | Maximum
Annuity account balances
Discount rate curve, base rate	One Year LIBOR
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%
Embedded derivative - FIA | Level 3
Liabilities:
Fair value	103,497,000	25,324,000
Embedded derivative - FIA | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	49.00%	49.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	2.50%	2.20%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.13%	0.15%
Expenses per Policy	83	83
Withdrawal rate (as a percent)	1.10%	1.10%
Embedded derivative - FIA | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	80.00%	80.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	40.00%	45.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	1.02%	1.06%
Expenses per Policy	97	97
Withdrawal rate (as a percent)	4.50%	4.50%
Embedded derivative - IUL | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	37.00%
Embedded derivative - IUL | Maximum
Annuity account balances
Discount rate curve, base rate	One Year LIBOR
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	74.00%
Embedded derivative - IUL | Level 3
Liabilities:
Fair value	2,609,000
Embedded derivative - IUL | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Minimum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	37.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	0.50%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	0.13%
Embedded derivative - IUL | Level 3 | Actuarial cash flow model | Maximum
Unobservable input
Mortality (as a percent)	74.00%
Lapse (as a percent)	10.00%
Nonperformance risk (as a percent)	1.02%
Embedded derivative - Modco reinsurance treaties
Determination of fair values
Carrying amount	2,600,000,000
Embedded derivative - Modco reinsurance treaties | Trading securities
Liabilities:
Fair value	$ 2,900,000,000