Notes Payable (Repurchase Agreements Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Repurchase agreement, maximum amount borrowed			$ 138.7	$ 160.4
Repurchase agreement, average borrowings	$ 0	$ 10.0	$ 13.7	$ 5.0
Repurchase agreement, weighted average interest rate		0.32%	0.15%	0.32%

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