use my own templates

Thanks, Suzanne. Unfortunately all I see is in the picture below. I don't see the Personal or Custom.

If you go to File | Options | Advanced: File Locations..., you'll see this dialog:

What path is shown for "User templates" and "Workgroup templates"? I found that I had my default templates folder identified for "User templates," which results in "Personal" being displayed. When I added the same folder as the location for "Workgroup templates," the label changed to "Custom." You can see this in Charles's illustration at http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/images/2013FileNew%20(2).png.

See File New Variations in th. Versions of Word. I think the illustration Suzanne was referring to was this one, which results from designating both a user templates folder and a workgroup templates folder.

The article describes how to get the Classic File New Dialog on your QAT or Ribbon as well. That shortcuts the whole process, getting you to your templates.

Thanks, Charles. That is quite a good explanation with the link to Variations

In which version of Office will this feature be dropped? It seems to become more and more dificult to use your own templates so I assume the Office team has decided against it but still leaves the door ajar before finally closing it.

What I get when I designate the same folder as both the user and workgroup templates folder is this:

Clicking on either folder takes me to large icons of the files (and folders) in the Templates Folder. For me (and I suspect the OP) this is far less useful than the classic dialog.

Thanks, Charles. That is quite a good explanation with the link to Variations

In which version of Office will this feature be dropped? It seems to become more and more dificult to use your own templates so I assume the Office team has decided against it but still leaves the door ajar before finally closing it.

I never anticipate Microsoft. I fear you may be right but would hope not. The more they attempt to make it a cloud-based service instead of a computer program and have it work on tablets, the less useful it  may become on computers. I have invested a lot of time in my templates. If Word 2013 will work until I retire, I may not use an "upgrade." I still have Word 97 running on my Windows 8.1 laptop.