I Have A UserDefault String Value That I Want To Convert To A Date In SwiftUI - date

Question

I have created a class in SwiftUI that I use to save UserDefaults:
import Foundation
import SwiftUI
import Combine
class UserSettings: ObservableObject {
#Published var vin: String {
didSet {
UserDefaults.standard.set(vin, forKey: "VIN")
}
}
#Published var dateOfPurchase: String {
didSet {
UserDefaults.standard.set(dateOfPurchase, forKey: "Date of Purchase")
}
}
#Published var currentMiles: String {
didSet {
UserDefaults.standard.set(currentMiles, forKey: "Current Miles")
}
}
#Published var cell: String {
didSet {
UserDefaults.standard.set(cell, forKey: "Cell")
}
}
#Published var email: String {
didSet {
UserDefaults.standard.set(email, forKey: "Email")
}
}
#Published var tcIsOn: Bool {
didSet {
UserDefaults.standard.set(tcIsOn, forKey: "Toyota Care")
}
}
init() {
self.vin = (UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "VIN") ?? "") as! String
self.dateOfPurchase = (UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "Date of Purchase") ?? "") as! String
self.currentMiles = (UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "Current Miles") ?? "") as! String
self.cell = (UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "Cell") ?? "") as! String
self.email = (UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "Email") ?? "") as! String
self.tcIsOn = (UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "Toyota Care") ?? false) as! Bool
}
}
Basically what I want to do is pull my string value "dateOfPurchase" from UserDefaults convert it to a date format it "MM/dd/yyyy" and then display it in a Text() object. It would seem simple but SwiftUI is not cooperating. My other string values work fine but converting from string --> date is proving problematic. Any insights would be appreciated.