<PAGE>

                                                                 EXHIBIT 31.1

                                CERTIFICATION
                                -------------

I, Paula R. Meyer, certify that:

     1.   I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Ameriprise
          Certificate Company;

     2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
          statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
          necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
          circumstances under which such statements were made, not
          misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

     3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
          financial information included in this report, fairly present in
          all material respects the financial condition, results of
          operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
          periods presented in this report;

     4.   The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible
          for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
          procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
          15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

          (a)  Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
               such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
               our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
               to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
               is made known to us by others within those entities,
               particularly during the period in which this report is being
               prepared;

          (b)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures, and presented in this report our
               conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
               controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered
               by this report based on such evaluation; and

          (c)  Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
               internal control over financial reporting that occurred
               during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the
               registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual
               report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
               to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
               financial reporting; and

     5.   The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
          based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
          financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
          committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons
          performing the equivalent functions):

          (a)  All significant deficiencies and material weakness in the
               design or operation of internal control over financial
               reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
               registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
               financial information; and

          (b)  Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
               or other employees who have a significant role in the
               registrant's internal controls over financial reporting.


     Date: March 10, 2006

                                            /s/ Paula R. Meyer
                                            -----------------------
                                            Paula R. Meyer
                                            Chief Executive Officer