Notes and Loan Payable and Amounts Due Under Repurchase Agreements (Repurchase Agreements Narrative) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]
Repurchase agreement, maximum amount borrowed	$ 274.5	$ 113.0	$ 40.6
Repurchase agreement, average borrowings	$ 40.0	$ 4.5	$ 0.5
Repurchase agreement, weighted average interest rate	0.84%	0.66%	0.39%

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