It is certainly not a necessity. If playing with a guide(not recommended if this is your first playthrough) or for powergaming purposes, you'd probably want to invest those points into strength or other combat relevant skills.

Personally, though, I had a lot of fun with sneak, especially in the early game. The get the most out of it, be sure to get lockpicking as well. I spent most of my early game sneaking around the camps at night, robbing houses wherever possible (sometimes during the day as well). Took me a bit longer to get decent at combat, but I think the tradeoff was worth it. If this appeals to you, then I'd say go for it - in the long run, those few points you spent on sneak won't matter all that much anymore.