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
Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit [Member] \| U.S. [Member]
Changes in the gross U.S. GMDB, International GMDB/GMIB, and UL secondary guarantee benefits
Liability, balance as of January 1	$ 918	$ 1,104
Incurred	46	56
Paid	(40)	(50)
Unlock	(52)	(134)
Liabilities for Guarantees on Long-Duration contracts, Reinsurance Transaction Impact	0
Currency translation adjustment
Liability balance as of September 30	872	976
Reinsurance recoverable asset, as of January 1	608	724
Incurred	27	35
Paid	(28)	(33)
Unlock	28	72
Reinsurance Recoverable Asset Impact of Reinsurance Transaction
Currency translation adjustment
Reinsurance recoverable asset, as of September 30	579	654
GMDB/GMIB [Member] \| International [Member]
Changes in the gross U.S. GMDB, International GMDB/GMIB, and UL secondary guarantee benefits
Liability, balance as of January 1	661	975
Incurred	30	33
Paid	(32)	(53)
Unlock	(113)	(139)
Liabilities for Guarantees on Long-Duration contracts, Reinsurance Transaction Impact	0
Currency translation adjustment	(54)	(61)
Liability balance as of September 30	492	755
Reinsurance recoverable asset, as of January 1	36	40
Incurred	3	2
Paid	(6)	(7)
Unlock	10	(13)
Reinsurance Recoverable Asset Impact of Reinsurance Transaction
Currency translation adjustment	(3)	(3)
Reinsurance recoverable asset, as of September 30	20	45
Universal Life [Member] \| UL Secondary Guarantees [Member]
Changes in the gross U.S. GMDB, International GMDB/GMIB, and UL secondary guarantee benefits
Liability, balance as of January 1	363	228
Incurred	66	24
Paid
Unlock		11
Liabilities for Guarantees on Long-Duration contracts, Reinsurance Transaction Impact	1,145
Currency translation adjustment
Liability balance as of September 30	1,574	263
Reinsurance recoverable asset, as of January 1	21	22
Incurred	68	(3)
Paid
Unlock
Reinsurance Recoverable Asset Impact of Reinsurance Transaction	1,485
Currency translation adjustment
Reinsurance recoverable asset, as of September 30	$ 1,574	$ 19

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Amount of guaranteed minimum benefit payments to policyholders and contract holders, during the period presented, resulting in a decrease to the liability for expected guaranteed minimum benefits in excess of projected account values.

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