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Investments (Non-Income Producing Investments) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Fixed Maturity Securities [Member]
Investment Holdings [Line Items]
Non-income producing investments	$ 8,680	$ 1,651

X

- Definition

Represents the carrying value of investments that were non-income producing as of the reporting date.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	ael_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

X

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

X

- Details

Name:	invest_InvestmentAxis=us-gaap_FixedMaturitiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: