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Investments (Investments in Fixed Maturity and Equity Securities Available-for-Sale by Sector) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	$ 22,890,985	$ 21,966,803
Estimated Fair Value	$ 23,520,469	$ 23,210,968
% of Total	100.00%	100.00%
Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	$ 35,913,705	$ 35,281,412
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	2,413,020	2,982,754
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	381,465	113,346
Estimated Fair Value	$ 37,945,260	$ 38,150,820
% of Total	100.00%	100.00%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 275	$ 275
Equity Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost		102,841
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax		958
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax		3,647
Estimated Fair Value		$ 100,152
% of Total		100.00%
Corporate Debt Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	22,890,985	$ 21,966,803
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	869,867	1,299,594
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	240,383	55,429
Estimated Fair Value	$ 23,520,469	$ 23,210,968
% of Total	61.90%	60.90%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Canadian and Canadian provincial governments | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	2,803,077	2,843,273
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,297,817	1,378,510
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	3,040	1,707
Estimated Fair Value	$ 4,097,854	$ 4,220,076
% of Total	10.80%	11.10%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Residential mortgage-backed securities | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,791,007	1,695,126
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	23,640	36,632
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	27,499	11,878
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,787,148	$ 1,719,880
% of Total	4.70%	4.50%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Asset-backed securities | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,727,810	1,634,758
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	16,383	18,798
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	9,471	5,194
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,734,722	$ 1,648,362
% of Total	4.60%	4.30%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 275	$ 275
Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,281,452	1,285,594
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	12,717	22,627
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	12,236	4,834
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,281,933	$ 1,303,387
% of Total	3.40%	3.40%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
US Treasury and Government [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,486,262	1,953,436
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	9,266	12,089
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	59,414	21,933
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,436,114	$ 1,943,592
% of Total	3.80%	5.10%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
US States and Political Subdivisions Debt Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	672,064	647,727
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	49,465	59,997
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	8,016	4,296
Estimated Fair Value	$ 713,513	$ 703,428
% of Total	1.90%	1.80%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Foreign Government Debt Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	3,261,048	3,254,695
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	133,865	154,507
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	21,406	8,075
Estimated Fair Value	$ 3,373,507	$ 3,401,127
% of Total	8.90%	8.90%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Nonredeemable Preferred Stock [Member] | Equity Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost		41,553
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax		479
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax		2,226
Estimated Fair Value		$ 39,806
% of Total		39.70%
Equity Securities Other Than Non-redeemable Preferred Stock [Member] | Equity Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost		$ 61,288
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax		479
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax		1,421
Estimated Fair Value		$ 60,346
% of Total		60.30%

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