First things first. Can you use that many points or are you going to have to rent out your points? If you're going to have to rent out your points, I say pass on going silver. There are a million reasons to avoid renting. Especially to strangers. The occasional renting to family and friends, no big deal. Doing it on the regular is annoying and a hassle. Renting to strangers is a risk.
Second, can you afford to pay cash for that 98k points (49,000 per PIC week)? If not, don't do it. The amount of interest you will pay will eat away at any maintenance fee savings you get and will take years for those savings to make up for it, if ever.
What other benefits besides discounts and upgrades are valuable to you? Discounts and upgrades can be few and far between if you travel during prime season, depending on what you book. People who book studios or one bedrooms have a higher chance of getting upgraded to the next size up. Same with discounts. So, pretend you rarely get those. Is VIP still worth it to you? It's ok if the answer is yes. It's your moolah. The only opinion that matters if yours.
For me, I look at the long term. I went platinum. Right now we travel a lot during prime season and occasionally during low and high seasons. So, we need a lot of points for the big family vacations (I have a few resale contracts too). Upgrades and discounts are not the norm. They are a bonus. When my husband and I retire, we will be able to travel in the off season more and utilize those discounts and upgrades. I already have our road trip planned out and can get 25 weeks of traveling with our 50% discount and still have some points left over. Since it's just us, we can book a studio or one bedroom. Those are more plentiful than the larger rooms, and more likely to be available in the 60-day window. Prices on points tend to go up over the years, so buying now saves me some money.
Now, if we were not able to pay cash, I wouldn't have done it. 10 years of over $1,000 a month for Maintenace fees and loan payments for my purchase just didn't appeal to me. Paying over $30k in interest didn't appeal to me either. So always pay cash. If you do not have it now, save some money. Once you get a few thousand, put it in a CD. Let that ride and save a few thousand more. When the first CD matures, roll it into a new one along with additional money you saved. You will eventually get to your goal. You could also take some side gigs to save up money if it's really important to you.
Another thing to consider. The PIC program can be changed at any time. Changes can range from minor to major. I do not see them doing away with PIC anytime soon, but it's not out of the question. Given Wyndham's history, if they decide to kill the program, they likely would grandfather in existing owners, and stop taking new enrollments. PIC contracts are non-transferable, even to family members. Eventually, as ownerships are turned back in or transferred, the PIC contracts will slowly drop off. If they wanted to be more aggressive about retiring the program, they could allow us to retain our status, but make the points symbolic. They wouldn't be available to make bookings. Just like PIC express but permanent. I could be wrong on all this. They could nix the program entirely and say tough luck to the owners, and we lose our VIP status. Who knows with them. This is not meant to scare you off. I just want you going into this, eye wide open. I do not want you to be blindsided if the worst happened.
If you do this, just remember that the RCI affiliated PIC week (cannot be RCI points), has to be in your name. The entire transfer process has to be completed before you can enroll it into PIC. In the past you could get away with not having to prove you own it, but nowadays they check. If the resort doesn't confirm it's in your name, the enrollment will be rejected. Depending on the resort or closing company, it could take months for the PICs to transfer to you. Look into Timeshare nation. They specialize in free timeshares. Some of those can have high fees which is why they are free, but not all of them.
Another bonus tip. Sedona does piggybacks (they call them deed backs). I got a 126k point Flagstaff contract for $4k (normally $22k), and it counts towards VIP. I did my purchase over the phone and email. It reduced my cost considerably when I went to Platinum back in December. The drawback is those are usually high maintenance fee resorts. I want to say it's $8 per 1,000. So make sure you factor that into your calculations if you go that route. Also, it requires a purchase. When you purchase normal points, they tend to be a bit more expensive since you're getting a huge discount on the deed backs. I got deeded Atlanta. I think it was $200 per 1,000. I know for a fact that other resorts were selling it for $175 per 1,000. CWA points I believe were $175 per 1,000. My overall cost was $128 per 1,000 points. If I got CWA points, my overall cost would have been about $110 per 1,000. If you do the deed back, ask for the 182k point contracts. The maintenance fees are more reasonable on those. I accepted the higher maintenance fee ones because I do not plan on keeping them for more than 3 or 4 years. I will eventually trade them in for a lower maintenance fee resort.
I haven't decided if I am going to go Founders, Presidental reserve, or just make a small purchase but I have to make at least one more purchase to trade everything in (deed backs and all) Again, looking at long term. We may not make the money back, but a 5% increase on $8 per 1,000 is more than a 5% increase on $4.50 per 1,000. So, it's a psychological thing. Since it's my money, it's my choice.
Anyway, you're going to do what you're going to do, so I hope this helped you make the choice that is good for you.