Will I really only get 32.5% of my husband's Social Security benefit as a spouse with insufficient credits?

Your percentages are off. Spouse gets 50% of other spouse's PIA at their FRA, not 70%. The 70% is what your husband gets at 62 if his FRA is 67. And spouses don't get 32.5% - it's 35% at age 62 (if your FRA is 67). The reduction is calculated differently for retirement vs spousal.

Let me clarify how this actually works, since there's some confusion here: 1. Your husband's benefit at his Full Retirement Age (FRA) would be 100% of his PIA. If he claims at 62 and his FRA is 67, he'd receive approximately 70% of his PIA. 2. As a spouse with insufficient credits, you're eligible for spousal benefits. At YOUR full retirement age, you can receive 50% of his PIA (not his reduced benefit). 3. If you claim spousal benefits early at 62, you'd receive approximately 32.5-35% of his PIA (depending on your exact FRA). 4. For survivor benefits: If he passes away, you could receive up to 100% of what he was ACTUALLY receiving (including any reductions), not his PIA. But claiming survivor benefits early also creates reductions. The key thing to understand is that all these calculations are based on his PIA, not on his reduced benefit amount if he files early.

One thing nobody mentioned yet - for survivor benefits, timing really matters. If your husband claims at 62 and gets that 30% reduction, and then passes away, your survivor benefit would be based on that reduced amount! That's why some couples have the higher-earning spouse delay as long as possible, even if the lower-earning spouse claims early. It's called maximizing the survivor benefit.

WRONG INFO BEING SHARED HERE! For survivor benefits you get what your deceased spouse was receiving OR 82.5% of their PIA if they died before filing, whichever is HIGHER! This is different from spousal benefits!!! I know because I'm a widow dealing with this exact situation. The SS reps explained it all to me when my husband passed last year.

i spent 6 hours on hold with the SSA trying to get an answer about my spousal benefits. kept getting disconnected. finally found Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through to someone at Social Security in under 15 minutes! they have this video explaining how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. worth every penny to actually talk to someone who could explain my specific situation. the agent confirmed what others are saying here - spouse gets 50% at FRA but reduced to about 32.5-35% at age 62.

this is why the system is so UNFAIR... i worked part time for 30 years while raising kids but only have 36 credits so i get almost NOTHING compared to if i had just 4 more credits!!! meanwhile my neighbor worked exactly 10 years got her 40 credits and gets full benefits!!! the whole credit system needs to be revised for people who worked but just missed the cutoff

Something nobody has mentioned yet - if you're younger than your husband, you might want to consider how the age gap affects your strategy. If he's significantly older, it might make sense for him to file later even if you file for spousal benefits early. The math gets complicated with age differences.

To answer your follow-up question: You generally cannot claim spousal benefits until your spouse has filed for their own retirement benefits. There used to be a strategy called "file and suspend" that allowed this, but it was eliminated by legislation in 2015. With a 3-year age gap, you might consider having your husband delay filing until closer to his FRA, while you wait until you reach 62 (when he'll be 65) to file for spousal benefits. This balances some early filing reduction with getting benefits sooner rather than later. Just remember: every year you wait (up to age 70 for retirement benefits), your monthly payments increase. But there's no advantage to waiting beyond your FRA for spousal benefits - they don't grow after you reach your FRA.