Notes Payable (Repurchase Agreements Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Repurchase agreement, maximum amount borrowed	$ 138,700,000	$ 0
Repurchase agreement, average borrowings	$ 27,500,000
Repurchase agreement, weighted average interest rate	0.15%

The average rate of interest paid on the amount borrowed on securities repurchase agreements during the period.

No definition available.

Name:	ael_RepurchaseAgreementAverageInterestRate
Namespace Prefix:	ael_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration