Incorrect syntax with Declare

Good morning
I hope this will be a simple one, but I am trying to write a view to query my SQL server database, setting a variable using "declare". The code runs fine and returns a number of records, but when I try to save it, it comes up with "Incorrect syntax near the keyword DECLARE", and will not save. I am a bit of a novice when it comes to SQL, but I don't understand why it runs, but won't save. Here is my variable:
DECLARE @.ANCHORDATE AS DATETIME
SET @.ANCHORDATE = CASE WHEN datepart(mm, getdate()) BETWEEN 4 AND 9 THEN dateadd(mm, 3, DATEADD(yy, DATEDIFF(yy, 0, getdate()), 0)) ELSE dateadd(mm, - 9,
DATEADD(yy, DATEDIFF(yy, 0, getdate()), 0)) END

Thanks for any help.I am not 100% sure but you can try not to use DECLARE and try and save it. Let me know if it helps.|||I have replaced all the instances of the variable with the actual definition, and the view runs and saves fine. I was hoping to be able to keep it simple by not having to type in the variable definition each time. I don't understand why it can run, but saving it returns an error.