I see this is your first post, so first off let me say WELCOME to the DIS Boards!
Use year has no affect on travel plans. It is the date that your points are "refreshed" each year, but you don't have to wait until the points are in your account to make reservations for that year. As long as the points will be available then you can reserve at your home resort 11 months out, and any other
DVC resorts 7 months prior to your reservation.
Use year becomes important if you cancel a reservation. If your reservation is towards the end of your UY, you might end up being too late to bank the points or to use them still in that UY...they then might just be left unused.
It is best to have a UY that is just prior to your usual travel times. So if you think you will always go in, for example, March then a February UY would work well. That way, if you cancel your reservation, you still have the option to bank the points completely or 10 months to make a different reservation. On the other hand, if you had a June UY, you would only have until the end of May to travel (assuming you couldn't bank the points).
