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Investments (Investments in Fixed Maturity and Equity Securities Available-for-Sale by Sector) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	$ 24,271,467	$ 21,966,803
Estimated Fair Value	$ 24,449,498	$ 23,210,968
% of Total	100.00%	100.00%
Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	$ 37,751,132	$ 35,281,412
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,907,163	2,982,754
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	653,083	113,346
Estimated Fair Value	$ 39,005,212	$ 38,150,820
% of Total	100.00%	100.00%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 275	$ 275
Equity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [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
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	24,271,467	$ 21,966,803
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	594,444	1,299,594
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	416,413	55,429
Estimated Fair Value	$ 24,449,498	$ 23,210,968
% of Total	62.70%	60.90%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Canadian and Canadian provincial governments | Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	2,902,433	2,843,273
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	1,138,426	1,378,510
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	4,109	1,707
Estimated Fair Value	$ 4,036,750	$ 4,220,076
% of Total	10.30%	11.10%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Residential mortgage-backed securities | Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,816,949	1,695,126
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	14,235	36,632
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	50,422	11,878
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,780,762	$ 1,719,880
% of Total	4.60%	4.50%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Asset-backed securities | Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,867,650	1,634,758
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	10,312	18,798
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	14,945	5,194
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,863,017	$ 1,648,362
% of Total	4.80%	4.30%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 275	$ 275
Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,282,015	1,285,594
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	8,403	22,627
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	16,884	4,834
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,273,534	$ 1,303,387
% of Total	3.30%	3.40%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
US Treasury and Government [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,500,703	1,953,436
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	6,359	12,089
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	94,653	21,933
Estimated Fair Value	$ 1,412,409	$ 1,943,592
% of Total	3.60%	5.10%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
US States and Political Subdivisions Debt Securities [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	889,218	647,727
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	36,410	59,997
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	13,637	4,296
Estimated Fair Value	$ 911,991	$ 703,428
% of Total	2.30%	1.80%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Debt Security, Government, Non-US [Member] | Fixed maturity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	3,220,697	3,254,695
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Gain, before Tax	98,574	154,507
Available-for-sale Securities, Accumulated Gross Unrealized Loss, before Tax	42,020	8,075
Estimated Fair Value	$ 3,277,251	$ 3,401,127
% of Total	8.40%	8.90%
Other-than-temporary impairments in AOCI	$ 0	$ 0
Nonredeemable Preferred Stock [Member] | Equity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [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%
Other equity securities | Equity securities
Debt Securities, Available-for-sale [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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+ References

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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
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