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Reinsurance and Policy Provisions (Hannover Financing Arrangements) (Details) - 2013 Hannover Reinsurance Agreement [Member] - USD ($) $ in Millions | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2017 | Dec. 31, 2016 | Dec. 31, 2015
Ceded Credit Risk [Line Items] |  |  |
Waived surrender charges on penalty free withdrawals and deaths on certain business, percentage | 45.60% |  |
Reserve credit | $ 737.3 | $ 638.1 |
Risk charges | $ 28.5 | $ 27.7 | $ 21.0

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- Definition This amount represents a statutory reserve credit taken related to a reinsurance agreement that is accounted for as reinsurance in accordance with statutory accounting principles. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ael_ReinsuranceReserveCredit
Namespace Prefix: | ael_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition Item represents a risk charge percentage that is applied to the oustanding loss carry forward (LCF) to determine the amount due at the end of each accounting period (quarter). + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ael_ReinsuranceRiskCharge
Namespace Prefix: | ael_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Item represents the percentage of coverage provided by the 2005 Hannover Reinsurance Agreement on certain business of waived surrender charges related to penalty free withdrawals and deaths. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | ael_ReinsuranceWaivedSurrenderChargesOnPenaltyFreeWithdrawalsAndDeathsOnCertainBusinessPercentage
Namespace Prefix: | ael_
Data Type: | num:percentItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

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- 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_CededCreditRiskLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Details
Name: | us-gaap_CededCreditRiskAxis=ael_Reinsurance2013HannoverReinsuranceAgreementMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |