Separate Accounts, Death Benefits and Other Insurance Benefit Features (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2010
Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit [Member]
Changes in the gross U.S. GMDB, International GMDB/GMIB, and UL secondary guarantee benefits
Liability, balance, beginning of period	$ 944		$ 1,158
Incurred	45	61
Paid	(52)	(71)
Unlock	(52)	(123)
Liabilities for Guarantees on Long-Duration contracts, Reinsurance Transaction Impact	0
Currency translation adjustment	(2)	0
Liability balance, end of period	883	1,025	1,158
Reinsurance recoverable asset, beginning of period	608		724
Incurred	27	35
Paid	(28)	(33)
Unlock	(28)	(72)
Reinsurance Recoverable Asset Impact of Reinsurance Transaction	0
Reinsurance recoverable asset, end of period	579	654	724
Universal Life [Member] | UL Secondary Guarantees [Member]
Changes in the gross U.S. GMDB, International GMDB/GMIB, and UL secondary guarantee benefits
Liability, balance, beginning of period	363		228
Incurred	68	24
Paid	0
Unlock	0	11
Liabilities for Guarantees on Long-Duration contracts, Reinsurance Transaction Impact	1,143
Currency translation adjustment	0	0
Liability balance, end of period	1,574	263	228
Reinsurance recoverable asset, beginning of period	21		22
Incurred	68	(3)
Paid	0
Unlock	0
Reinsurance Recoverable Asset Impact of Reinsurance Transaction	1,485
Reinsurance recoverable asset, end of period	$ 1,574	$ 19	$ 22