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Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs and Deferred Sales Inducements (Deferred Sales Inducements) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Movement in Deferred Sales Inducements [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of year	$ 2,232,148	$ 1,587,257	$ 1,875,880
Costs deferred during the year	353,966	486,924	330,079
Amortization	(251,166)	(209,390)	(131,419)
Effect of net unrealized gains/losses	(126,730)	367,357	(487,283)
Balance at end of year	$ 2,208,218	$ 2,232,148	$ 1,587,257

X

- Definition

Amount of amortization of deferred sales inducements due to unrealized investment gains or losses.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	ael_
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Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The amount of deferred sales inducement costs capitalized during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6481800&loc=d3e11332-158416

+ Details

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X

- Definition

The amount of deferred sales inducement costs charged against earnings during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6481800&loc=d3e11332-158416

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X

- Definition

The unamortized carrying amount of deferred sales inducement costs as of the balance sheet date.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6481800&loc=d3e11332-158416

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X

- Definition

A roll forward is a reconciliation of a concept from the beginning of a period to the end of a period.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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