Worry not about points and point systems. Buy (1) deeded weeks in (2) high demand locations (3) that you like (4) and would be willing to go to frequently (5) with Interval International affiliations so you can make good trades. And (6) buy from people running ads on T.U.G., Redweek, tstoday, MyResortsNetwork and -- yep, no kidding -- eBay. The cheaper you buy -- $1000 to, say, $4000 total -- the faster you effectively amortize your purchase price. No matter your age, there was no way you were going to amortize your Hilton "We're Not a Timeshare" Vacation Club points.
Couldn't disagree more that this (deeded weeks) is the only way to go and you should forget points. Like most things in life you need to match up your ideas and personality to the right product.
Many people think that you have more security in a deeded week system than a true points system - like Worldmark or Vacation Internationale. These systems are structured in such a way that the real estate is held in a trust or similar instrument owned by the owners which cannot be touched by the manager/developer. When VI was managed by Sunterra (now part of Diamond) they (Sunterra) went bankrupt. No impact to the real estate or anyone's ownership. (BTW - new management came in and all is well.)
In my opinion, points systems offer the maximum in flexibility. However, they do require planning, especially for things like ski weeks and Hawaii. (BTW - so do floating deeded weeks.) FYI - some programs like HGVC are what I'd call a "blended" system. You own a deeded week but that gives you points in the point system.
With a good points system, you can book one day to as many days as you have points for and book anything from a studio to a penthouse in any of the systems locations (WM has around 90 and VI has around 60). There is no "Club Fee" (the way deeded week programs pay for an internal exchange system).
However, I highly agree with buying for places you want to go without needing exchanges.
Lastly (I could go on much more) just be sure you understand ANY system/property you consider buying. Among lots of things be aware of the following:
EXACTLY what am I buying (a fixed week, floating week, a deeded week with related points, true points, any difference in point types from the same program)
What are the rules on when you can reserve what
What are the maintenance fees - is there any history of how much the increases run (and of course realize they will increase)
What are the reservation fees (if any)
What are the club fees (if any)
What are the housekeeping fees and how do they work
What are the differences in benefits between Developer and resale purchases (the differences don't typically support the extra cost of Developer purchases but there ARE typically some to many differences)
The different points systems are like foreign currency - a few points in one system (i.e. DVC) could be the same as a zillion points in another system (i.e. Wyndham)
Good luck and great vacations as you become educated on timeshares.