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Reinsurance and Policy Provisions (Equitrust Coinsurance Agreements) (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) coinsurance_agreement	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Ceded Credit Risk [Line Items]
Coinsurance deposits	$ 5,115,013	$ 4,954,068
Equitrust Coinsurance Agreements, All Periods
Ceded Credit Risk [Line Items]
Number of coinsurance agreements | coinsurance_agreement	2
Coinsurance deposits	$ 481,900	560,800
Reinsurance payable	$ 10,700	$ 2,200
Equitrust Coinsurance Agreement, August 1, 2001 to December 31, 2001
Ceded Credit Risk [Line Items]
Coninsurance percentage on certain annuities	70.00%
Equitrust Coinsurance Agreement, January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003
Ceded Credit Risk [Line Items]
Coninsurance percentage on certain annuities	40.00%
Equitrust Coinsurance Agreement, January 1, 2004 to July 31, 2004
Ceded Credit Risk [Line Items]
Coninsurance percentage on certain annuities	20.00%

X

- Definition

Item represents the percentage of coinsurance provided under the coinsurance agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	ael_
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Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Number of coinsurance agreements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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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

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
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X

- Definition

The carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of the known and estimated amounts owed to insurers under reinsurance treaties or other arrangements.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.13(a)(3),(c))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=119400593&loc=d3e572229-122910

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Amount, after valuation allowance, recoverable under reinsurance contracts including premium paid under reinsurance contracts. Examples include, but are not limited to, settled and unsettled claims, incurred but not reported losses, loss adjustment expense, premium paid, policy benefits and policy reserves.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.(a),6)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=119400593&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99397103&loc=d3e6824-158387

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 310
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99404803&loc=d3e21409-158489

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- Details

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