Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) segment	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)
Financial information of the segments
Number of Reportable Segments | segment	3
Revenue:
Premium income	$ 445,550	$ 446,395	$ 464,093
Fee income	944,526	729,179	618,244
Other revenue	13,563	7,506	7,355
Net investment income	1,254,430	1,228,388	1,091,389
Realized investments gains (losses), net	83,710	147,371	(14,136)
Total revenues	2,741,779	2,558,839	2,166,945
Benefits and expenses:
Policyholder benefits	1,234,627	1,222,445	1,232,091
Operating expenses	1,218,173	863,122	747,321
Total benefits and expenses	2,452,800	2,085,567	1,979,412
Income (loss) before income taxes	288,979	473,272	187,533
Income tax expense (benefit)	98,524	155,903	58,791
Net income (loss)	190,455	317,369	128,742
Assets:
Investments	28,811,026	28,323,243
Other assets	2,435,650	2,281,808
Separate account assets	26,631,193	27,718,844
Assets of continuing operations	57,877,869	58,323,895
Assets of discontinued operations	21,910	24,324
Total assets	57,899,779	58,348,219
Individual Markets Segment
Revenue:
Premium income	360,783	360,305	354,202
Fee income	87,471	95,631	94,037
Other revenue	0	0	7,355
Net investment income	801,935	748,015	688,279
Realized investments gains (losses), net	28,864	44,381	19,071
Total revenues	1,279,053	1,248,332	1,162,944
Benefits and expenses:
Policyholder benefits	931,631	902,982	921,096
Operating expenses	159,719	136,850	142,141
Total benefits and expenses	1,091,350	1,039,832	1,063,237
Income (loss) before income taxes	187,703	208,500	99,707
Income tax expense (benefit)	64,360	68,719	34,265
Net income (loss)	123,343	139,781	65,442
Assets:
Investments	16,074,681	15,928,591
Other assets	1,358,934	1,283,256
Separate account assets	7,031,013	7,247,463
Assets of continuing operations	24,464,628	24,459,310
Empower Retirement Segment
Revenue:
Premium income	533	1,215	3,954
Fee income	853,076	629,533	519,842
Other revenue	13,563	7,506	0
Net investment income	398,639	426,340	351,729
Realized investments gains (losses), net	54,752	102,597	(33,233)
Total revenues	1,320,563	1,167,191	842,292
Benefits and expenses:
Policyholder benefits	201,791	206,339	196,115
Operating expenses	992,564	647,165	538,209
Total benefits and expenses	1,194,355	853,504	734,324
Income (loss) before income taxes	126,208	313,687	107,968
Income tax expense (benefit)	43,058	104,162	33,240
Net income (loss)	83,150	209,525	74,728
Assets:
Investments	10,966,096	10,621,831
Other assets	927,061	855,728
Separate account assets	19,600,180	20,471,381
Assets of continuing operations	31,493,337	31,948,940
Other Segment
Revenue:
Premium income	84,234	84,875	105,937
Fee income	3,979	4,015	4,365
Other revenue	0	0	0
Net investment income	53,856	54,033	51,381
Realized investments gains (losses), net	94	393	26
Total revenues	142,163	143,316	161,709
Benefits and expenses:
Policyholder benefits	101,205	113,124	114,880
Operating expenses	65,890	79,107	66,971
Total benefits and expenses	167,095	192,231	181,851
Income (loss) before income taxes	(24,932)	(48,915)	(20,142)
Income tax expense (benefit)	(8,894)	(16,978)	(8,714)
Net income (loss)	(16,038)	(31,937)	$ (11,428)
Assets:
Investments	1,770,249	1,772,821
Other assets	149,655	142,824
Assets of continuing operations	$ 1,919,904	$ 1,915,645