Acquisition (Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended										8 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018		Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017		Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 4,063	[1]	$ 4,039	$ 3,852	$ 3,404	$ 3,413	[1]	$ 3,269	$ 3,237	$ 3,229		$ 15,358	$ 13,148	$ 12,343
Net income (loss)	368	[1]	$ 378	$ 420	$ 407	963	[1]	$ 385	$ 321	$ 349		1,573	2,018	$ 1,173
Reinsurance recoverables	$ 19,826					$ 6,515					$ 19,826	$ 19,826	$ 6,515
Liberty Transaction [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition agreement date												May 01, 2018
Capital stock acquired, percent	100.00%										100.00%	100.00%
Excess capital in Liberty Life (extraordinary dividend)												$ 1,800
Purchase price												1,500
Acquisition related costs												85
Provisional assets											$ (5)
Provisional liabilities											27
Provisional goodwill											32
Revenues											1,500
Net income (loss)											$ 36
Cash received from sale												$ 423

[1] Fourth quarter 2017 results include a goodwill impairment charge and the impacts of remeasuring our existing deferred tax balances for the impact of the Tax Act as disclosed elsewhere herein.