XML 53 R40.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.8.0.1

Investments (Fixed Maturity Securities Pledged And Received As Collateral) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	$ 22,890,985	$ 21,966,803
Available-for-sale Securities	23,520,469	23,210,968
Collateral Fixed Maturity Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities, Amortized Cost Basis	72,850	72,542
Available-for-sale Securities	75,384	75,622
Collateral Received Fixed Maturity Securities [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Available-for-sale Securities	614,423	590,417
Reported Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Assets Held-in-trust	16,316,662	15,584,296
Estimate of Fair Value Measurement [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Assets Held-in-trust	$ 17,076,547	$ 16,715,281

X

- Definition

The total amount of cash and securities held by third party trustees pursuant to terms of debt instruments or other agreements as of the date of each statement of financial position presented, which can be used by the trustee only to pay the noncurrent portion of specified obligations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e23780-122690

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AssetsHeldInTrust
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount of investment in debt and equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=75030427&loc=d3e22054-111558

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82897076&loc=d3e27232-111563

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82896770&loc=d3e26610-111562

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

This item represents the cost of debt and equity securities, which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading, net of adjustments including accretion, amortization, collection of cash, previous other-than-temporary impairments recognized in earnings (less any cumulative-effect adjustments recognized, as defined), and fair value hedge accounting adjustments, if any.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAmortizedCost
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfAvailableForSaleSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	rga_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAxis=rga_CollateralFixedMaturitySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	rga_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAxis=rga_CollateralReceivedFixedMaturitySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	rga_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_CarryingReportedAmountFairValueDisclosureMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	rga_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_EstimateOfFairValueFairValueDisclosureMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: