FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended													3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended													3 Months Ended																												3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012 Liabilities	Mar. 31, 2011 Liabilities	Mar. 31, 2012 Policyholder contract deposits	Mar. 31, 2011 Policyholder contract deposits	Mar. 31, 2012 Derivative liabilities, net	Mar. 31, 2011 Derivative liabilities, net	Mar. 31, 2012 Interest rate contracts	Mar. 31, 2011 Interest rate contracts	Mar. 31, 2012 Foreign exchange contracts	Mar. 31, 2011 Foreign exchange contracts	Dec. 31, 2010 Foreign exchange contracts	Mar. 31, 2012 Equity contracts	Mar. 31, 2011 Equity contracts	Mar. 31, 2011 Commodity contracts	Mar. 31, 2012 Commodity contracts	Dec. 31, 2011 Commodity contracts	Mar. 31, 2012 Credit contracts	Mar. 31, 2011 Credit contracts	Mar. 31, 2012 Other contracts	Mar. 31, 2011 Other contracts	Mar. 31, 2012 Other long-term debt	Mar. 31, 2011 Other long-term debt	Mar. 31, 2012 Bonds available for sale	Mar. 31, 2011 Bonds available for sale	Mar. 31, 2012 Bonds available for sale Obligations of states, municipalities and political subdivisions	Mar. 31, 2011 Bonds available for sale Obligations of states, municipalities and political subdivisions	Mar. 31, 2012 Bonds available for sale Non-U.S. government	Mar. 31, 2011 Bonds available for sale Non-U.S. government	Dec. 31, 2010 Bonds available for sale Non-U.S. government	Mar. 31, 2012 Bonds available for sale Corporate debt	Mar. 31, 2011 Bonds available for sale Corporate debt	Mar. 31, 2012 Bonds available for sale Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS)	Mar. 31, 2011 Bonds available for sale Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS)	Mar. 31, 2012 Bonds available for sale Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS)	Mar. 31, 2011 Bonds available for sale Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS)	Mar. 31, 2012 Bonds available for sale Collateralized Debt Obligations/Asset Backed Securities (CDO/ABS)	Mar. 31, 2011 Bonds available for sale Collateralized Debt Obligations/Asset Backed Securities (CDO/ABS)	Mar. 31, 2012 Bond trading securities	Mar. 31, 2011 Bond trading securities	Mar. 31, 2012 Bond trading securities Corporate debt	Mar. 31, 2011 Bond trading securities Corporate debt	Mar. 31, 2012 Bond trading securities Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS)	Mar. 31, 2011 Bond trading securities Residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS)	Mar. 31, 2012 Bond trading securities Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS)	Mar. 31, 2011 Bond trading securities Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS)	Mar. 31, 2012 Bond trading securities Collateralized Debt Obligations/Asset Backed Securities (CDO/ABS)	Mar. 31, 2011 Bond trading securities Collateralized Debt Obligations/Asset Backed Securities (CDO/ABS)	Mar. 31, 2012 Equity securities available for sale	Mar. 31, 2011 Equity securities available for sale	Mar. 31, 2012 Equity securities available for sale Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Equity securities available for sale Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2012 Equity securities available for sale Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Equity securities available for sale Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Equity securities trading	Dec. 31, 2010 Equity securities trading	Mar. 31, 2012 Mortgage and other loans receivable	Dec. 31, 2011 Mortgage and other loans receivable	Mar. 31, 2012 Other invested assets	Mar. 31, 2011 Other invested assets
Fair value assets and liabilities measured on recurring basis, unobservable input reconciliation calculation
Balance Beginning of Period	$ 38,027	$ 34,656																							$ 21,956	$ 17,088	$ 960	$ 609	$ 9	$ 5	$ 5	$ 1,935	$ 2,262	$ 10,877	$ 6,367	$ 3,955	$ 3,604	$ 4,220	$ 4,241	$ 9,296	$ 10,028	$ 7		$ 303	$ 91	$ 554	$ 506	$ 8,432	$ 9,431	$ 156	$ 125	$ 57	$ 61	$ 99	$ 64	$ 1	$ 1	$ 1	$ 1	$ 6,618	$ 7,414
Net Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) Included in Income	1,416	1,045																							140	91	1					(16)	(3)	(70)	(81)	(69)	(27)	14	20	(1,687)	(1,070)			33	2	33	38	1,621	1,030	16	13	14	15	2	(2)					147	(53)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (loss)	1,563	1,792																							1,357	1,446	16	4	8			76	7	793	533	287	664	177	238		5								5	(4)	(2)	(12)	(2)	8						210	343
Purchases, Sales, Issuances and Settlements, Net	(196)	(687)																							1,502	(266)	100	112	(2)			(3)	(33)	1,326	38	11	72	70	(455)	(1,793)	(57)	(2)		(19)	6	(135)	(58)	(1,637)	(5)	(6)	(14)	(14)	(15)	8	1					101	(350)
Gross Transfers in, assets	1,887	439																							1,108	334						291	226	348	11	31	25	438	72	32	99		18			32	81			5	6	5	6							742
Gross Transfers out, assets	(1,499)	(1,964)																							(1,096)	(1,528)	(23)	(23)				(960)	(1,224)	(34)		(42)	(22)	(37)	(259)	(54)	(44)			(3)		(51)	(44)			(11)	(2)		(2)	(11)						(338)	(390)
Balance End of Period	41,198	35,281																							24,687	16,983	1,054	702	15	5	5	1,323	1,235	13,240	6,868	4,173	4,316	4,882	3,857	9,168	11,101	5	18	314	99	433	523	8,416	10,461	156	126	50	63	106	63	1	1	1	1	7,186	7,070
Changes in Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Instruments Held at End of Period, assets	2,242	876																																						2,246	1,068			39	2	85	39	2,122	1,027											(4)	(192)
Balance at the Beginning of the Period			(3,849)	(4,544)	(918)	(445)	(2,423)	(3,117)	785	732	2	16	16	28	22	23	2	2	(3,273)	(3,798)	33	(112)	(508)	(982)
Net Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) Included in Income			(512)	291	139	79	(541)	266		(116)				12	(7)	3			(143)	382	(410)	4	(110)	(54)
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (loss)			(68)	25			9	25													9	25	(77)
Purchases, Sales, Issuances and Settlements-Net			1,227	134	(3)	(3)	1,116	76	(7)	3	(2)			2	38	(11)			711	(4)	412	50	114	61
Gross Transfers in, liabilities	(83)		(83)	(21)			(83)							(2)							(81)			(21)
Gross Transfers out, liabilities	83		6	8				8							(19)							27	6
Balance at the End of the Period			(3,279)	(4,107)	(782)	(369)	(1,922)	(2,742)	778	619		16	16	40	34	15	2	2	(2,705)	(3,420)	(37)	(6)	(575)	(996)
Changes in Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Instruments Held at End of Period, liabilities			$ (762)	$ 146	$ (144)	$ (93)	$ (514)	$ 281	$ (23)	$ (25)				$ 10	$ (7)	$ 2			$ (525)	$ 381	$ 24	$ (70)	$ (104)	$ (42)