XML 82 R67.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.8.0.1

Investments (Significant Assumptions Used to Determine the Credit Loss Component of Other Than Temporary Impariment on Residential Mortgage Backed Securities) (Details) - Residential Mortgage Backed Securities [Member]	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Prime Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2005 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate	7.00%	7.70%
Default rate	8.00%	8.00%
Loss severity	40.00%	50.00%
Prime Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2005 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate	7.70%	7.70%
Default rate	22.00%	14.00%
Loss severity	50.00%	50.00%
Prime Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2006 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate	7.30%	6.50%
Default rate	14.00%	12.00%
Loss severity	40.00%	40.00%
Prime Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2006 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate	7.30%	7.30%
Default rate	14.00%	13.00%
Loss severity	40.00%	50.00%
Prime Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2007 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate	6.20%	6.20%
Default rate	15.00%	18.00%
Loss severity	50.00%	50.00%
Prime Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2007 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate	6.70%	6.40%
Default rate	27.00%	31.00%
Loss severity	60.00%	55.00%
Alt-A Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2005 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate		7.40%
Default rate		11.00%
Loss severity		60.00%
Alt-A Sector [Member] | Vintage Year 2005 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Discount rate		7.40%
Default rate		11.00%
Loss severity		60.00%

X

- Definition

This item represents the discount rate on the underlying assets in the security that was considered as one of the potential factors in reaching a conclusion that the investments in marketable securities are other than temporarily impaired and the amount of such impairment determined to be related to credit loss recognized in earnings.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ael_OtherThanTemporaryImpairmentLossesAvailableForSaleSecuritiesPortionRecognizedInEarningsNetQualitativeDisclosuresDiscountRate
Namespace Prefix:	ael_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

This item represents the loss severity rate of the underlying assets in the security that was considered as one of the potential factors in reaching a conclusion that the investments in marketable securities are other than temporarily impaired and the amount of such impairment determined to be related to credit loss recognized in earnings.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ael_OtherThanTemporaryImpairmentLossesAvailableForSaleSecuritiesPortionRecognizedInEarningsNetQualitativeDisclosuresLossSeverity
Namespace Prefix:	ael_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

This item represents the default rate of the underlying assets in the security that was considered as one of the potential factors in reaching a conclusion that the available-for-sale investments are other than temporarily impaired and the amount of such impairment determined to be related to credit loss recognized in earnings.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8A
-Subparagraph a.1.
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82897076&loc=SL6284381-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherThanTemporaryImpairmentLossesInvestmentsAvailableforsaleSecuritiesPortionRecognizedInEarningsNetQualitativeDisclosuresDefaultRate
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

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

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_MajorTypesOfDebtAndEquitySecuritiesAxis=us-gaap_ResidentialMortgageBackedSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	invest_InvestmentSectorAxis=ael_ResidentialMortgageBackedSecuritiesPrimeSectorMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentSecondaryCategorizationAxis=ael_VintageYear2005Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentSecondaryCategorizationAxis=ael_VintageYear2006Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentSecondaryCategorizationAxis=ael_VintageYear2007Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	invest_InvestmentSectorAxis=ael_ResidentialMortgageBackedSecuritiesAltASectorMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: